Study of Salient Poles Synchronous Generator by Finite Elements Analysis

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Study of salient poles synchronous generator by finite

elements analysis

Olivian Chiver, Liviu Neamt, Mircea Horgos and Zoltan Erdei


Electrical, Electronics and Computers Engineering Department
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, North University Center
Baia Mare, Romania
olivian.chiver@ubm.ro

Abstract—This paper presents the finite elements analysis (FEA) II. THE SALIENT POLES GENERATOR PARAMETERS
of a salient poles synchronous generator. The goal of this analysis
is to determine the machine parameters in steady-state regime A. Steady-state Parameters
and in transient regime respectively. The used FEA techniques In steady-state regime, the salient poles generator
and obtained results for a case study will be presented as well. parameters are in accordance with equivalent electrical
Finally the FEA results will be compared to the experimental diagrams of the machine, fig.1.
ones and a 2D transient with motion analysis will be performed.
Thus the generator behavior is influenced by the stator
Keywords-synchronous; generator; parameters; transients; winding resistance, R, the direct axis synchronous reactance,
finite; elements. Xd=ωLd and the quadrature axis synchronous reactance,
Xq=ωLq. The direct axis synchronous reactance is the sum of
I. INTRODUCTION the leakage reactance of the stator winding, Xσ=ωLσ, and the
Nowadays most of electrical energy is supplied by direct axis reaction reactance, Xad=ωLad. Also, the quadrature
synchronous generators. These generators have two types of axis reactance is the sum of the stator winding leakage
rotors: round rotor in case of turbo-generators, usually with one reactance and the quadrature axis reaction reactance, Xaq=ωLaq.
or two pole pairs, and salient poles rotor, as in case of hydro- Ue0 is the field winding voltage and Z is the phase load
generators, when the pole pairs can reach two figure number. impedance.
The economic reasons impose a continuous growth of the B. Transients parameters
nominal power of these generators, thus the turbo-generators During the transient regime, the reactances change in terms
reach the values of 1200 MW and 700MW in case of hydro- of the transient currents that occur in field excitation winding
generators. These excessively high power values determine and in damper winding, respectively.
considerable prices, thus the design phase is very important.
The analytical relations used in design computation are quite Because the time constant of the dumper winding is smaller
accurate, but considering the importance of these machines, the than the time constant of field excitation winding, the dumper
design results have to be confirmed by numerical method. It winding currents extinguish before the excitation winding
is well known that, in design phase, one of the most powerful overcurrent. As long as the transient currents exist in the
instruments is finite elements analysis (FEA) because of its dumper winding, reactances are so called subtransient
accuracy. reactances, Xd”, Xq”. After the currents in the dumper winding
have extinguished and until the extinction of the overcurrent in
The main purpose of the present paper is to estimate the the field winding, reactance is so called direct axis transient
salient poles wound rotor synchronous generator parameters by reactance, Xd’. After that, reactances become the synchronous
FEA. Although many papers deal with the parameter reactances.
determination of salient poles synchronous generator by FEA,
[1]-[3], this paper presents several analysis techniques that C. The parameters determination by FEA
allow transient parameters determination as well. These In case of salient poles synchronous machine, the direct
parameters impose the transient currents in case of a three- axis reactance corresponds to the magnetic flux that closes
phase sudden short circuit regime. As the salient poles through rotor poles axis, Fig. 2.
generator has a variable air-gap, the direct axis parameters
differ from the quadrature axis parameters.
In order to shorten the analysis time, a 2D numerical
analysis will be performed, and end winding inductance and
resistance will be added in electrical circuits of the generator.
The above mentioned parameters can be obtained either by a. Direct axis parameters b. Quadrature axis parameters
3D FEA, or analytically. Figure 1. Equivalent circuit of salient poles generator in steady-state regime

978-1-4673-3059-6/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE


Figure 2. Direct axis magnetic flux Figure 3. Quadrature axis magnetic field
In order to compute the direct axis inductance, Ld, the On the other hand, the saturated and unsaturated values of
excitation current is set to be zero and the stator winding is fed these inductances are determined experimentally as well.
in such a way as to obtain the magnetic flux with maximum
value coincident with the direct axis of the rotor. If it is chosen There is also a different way to determine the two
the moment when the currents satisfy relation, inductances: only a single phase is supplied. If in the
magnetostatic simulation the current is imposed only in a
phase, the a phase linkage flux is obtained. If the direct axis
I a = -2Ib = -2Ic , (1)
coincides with the a phase axis, the linkage flux has the
maximum value, and the direct axis inductance can be
the magnetic field axis is the same as the a phase axis, and computed. If the a phase axis coincides with the quadrature
the direct axis of the rotor must be lined with this one. axis, the linkage flux has the minimum value, and the
Performing a 2D magnetostatic analysis, the 2D direct axis quadrature axis inductance can be obtained. The calculus
synchronous inductance, Ld-2D, can be computed in several relation is,
ways.
L d,q − 2D = 3Φ a /(2I a ) . (5)
In case of linear magnetic circuit, this inductance can be
determined in terms of the stored magnetic energy, Wm, with
relation, It can be noticed that in order to determine synchronous
inductances, some particular cases were considered, namely
2 either quadrature magnetic field or direct magnetic field was
L d − 2D = 4Wm /(3I a ) . (2)
removed.

Another possibility to compute this inductance, regardless There also is a possibility to determine these inductances
of the magnetic circuit linearity, is in terms of the linkage for a certain rotor position relative to stator winding magnetic
magnetic flux. In our case, the direct axis flux is quite the a field. Considering the angle between direct axis and the a phase
phase linkage flux, Φa , and the inductance is, axis to be α, the direct and quadrature axis (d,q) currents and
fluxes can be computed in terms of the three-phase (a,b,c)
currents and fluxes, with the following relations [4],
Ld −2D = Φa /I a . (3)
I d = (2/3)[I a cos α + I b cos(α − 2π / 3) + I c cos(α − 4π / 3)]
Of course, it could have been chosen the moment when
Ia=0, and Ib=-Ic, Ic=Imcos30, respectively, but in this case the I q = (-2/3)[I a sin α + I b sin(α − 2π / 3) + I c sin(α − 4π / 3)]
(6)
angle between magnetic field and direct axis is 90 electrical Φ d = (2/3)[Φ a cos α + Φ b cos(α − 2π / 3) + Φ c cos(α − 4π / 3)]
degrees. So the rotor has to be rotated with the same angle. In
Φ q = (-2/3)[Φ a sin α + Φ b sin(α − 2π / 3) + Φ c sin(α − 4π / 3)]
terms of the magnetic energy, the inductance is computed as in
(2). In terms of magnetic fluxes, this inductance is,
The two inductances are,
Ld − 2D = Φ b /I b = Φ c /I c . (4)
L d − 2D = Φ d /I d , L q − 2D = Φq /I q . (7)

The results obtained in this case differ from the previous


It has to be mentioned that regardless of the used method,
ones because of the different harmonics in the two cases [4].
the value of the end winding inductance, Lew must be added to
Quadrature axis inductance, Lq-2D, corresponds to the the 2D inductance values, in order to determine the real
quadrature axis magnetic flux (Fig. 3), and this is computed in synchronous inductances of the generator.
the same way as the direct axis inductance, but the axis of
stator winding magnetic field has to coincide with the Ld = Ld − 2D + Lew , Lq = Lq − 2D + Lew . (8)
quadrature axis of the rotor. Thus the rotor has to be rotated
with π/2p (p is the number of pole pairs) relative to previous
position. The determination methods of the end winding inductance
are presented in the scientific literature [5]-[8] and it is not the
In case of nonlinear magnetic circuits, the inductance object of this paper.
values depend on the current value used in simulations.
The methods presented in this paper allow the direct
computation of the 2D synchronous inductances. But the direct
and quadrature axis reaction inductances, Lad, and Laq
respectively, are the first to be determined, and then the
synchronous inductances by adding the stator winding leakage
inductance, Lσ.
a. Direct axis b. Quadrature axis
L d = L ad + L σ = L ad + L σ − 2D + L ew Figure 5. Subtransient inductances determination
. (9)
L q = L aq + L σ = L aq + L σ − 2D + L ew

The reaction inductances can be determined based on the


magnetic vector potential, A. For instance, from the numerical
analysis performed in order to determine the direct axis
synchronous inductance, the magnetic vector potential
distribution on the circular surface placed in the middle of the
Figure 6. Generator windings in case of subtransient inductances
air-gap, Fig. 4, can be obtained. From this curve the determination by FEA
fundamental component of the magnetic vector potential, A1
[Wb/m], is determined, and then the magnitude of the magnetic
flux, Φ ad , can be obtained,

Φ ad = 2A 1l . (10)

In (10) l is the stator core length [m].


The direct axis reaction inductance is,

L ad = k w NΦ ad /I a , (11)
a. Direct axis subtransient inductance determination

kw is the winding factor and N is the series number of turns


per phase.
In the same way the quadrature axis reaction inductance is
computed, certainly the rotor being in the adequate position.
Subtransient inductances were determined as in the
experimental way. Two phases of the stator winding were
supplied from a voltage source with industrial frequency. The
rotor position was chosen so that the axis of the resulted
magnetic field was the same as the direct axis, when the direct
axis transient inductance was determined, Fig. 5a, and the axis b. Quadrature axis subtransient inductance determination
Figure 7. Flux lines and current density
of the resulted magnetic field was the same as the quadrature
axis, when the quadrature axis inductance was determined, Fig. From the numerical analysis, the current in the energized
5b. A 2D time harmonic analysis was performed. The stator phases and the linkage flux are obtained. The phase linkage
winding resistance was set to be the analytically-computed one flux on the current ratio is the subtransient inductance.
(or the measured one), and the stator end winding inductance
was included in the phase circuit. The field winding is short- Fig. 7a and 7b present the flux lines and the current density
circuited, Fig. 6. in all the windings in case of direct axis subtransient
inductance determination and quadrature axis, respectively.
Another possibility to compute these inductances is to
determine the phase angle between voltage and current, and
thus to determine the reactive power, Q. The inductances are
determined with relation,

L”d, q = Q/ (ω2I 2 ) . (12)

The direct axis transient inductance can be computed in the


same way as the subtransient inductance, but the dumper
winding must be removed. In FEA the dumper winding was
Figure 4. Magnetic vector potential distribution in air-gap open-circuited. The stator winding magnetic flux induces a
current in the field excitation winding. On its turn, this current
produces an opposite magnetic field. Fig. 8a presents the
magnetic flux lines and current density in case of determination
the direct axis transient inductance.
Because the quadrature axis magnetic field does not interact
with the field excitation winding (the angle between these is 90
degrees), quadrature axis transient inductance is in fact
quadrature axis inductance. Indeed, it can be noticed, Fig. 8b,
that current density in field excitation winding is zero when
reaction field axis is quadrature axis. The path of flux lines is
the same as the path of quadrature axis flux lines.
Figure 9. No-load voltage and short circuit current characteristics
III. THE CASE STUDY. RESULTS
In the case study, a salient poles three-phase synchronous In table I the experimental and FEA results are presented
generator with DC excitation winding was considered. The comparatively.
main data are: outer diameter of the stator core, 106.5 mm,
TABLE I. COMPUTED INDUCTANCES
inner diameter, 70 mm , length, 75 mm, outer diameter of the
rotor, 67.3 mm, pole pairs number, 2, stator slots number, 36, Method Measured (1) FEA (1)/(2)
stator tooth width, 2.75 mm, turns coil number 133, phase Inductances Small Character (2) [%]
voltage, 230 V, phase current, 0.7 A, rated power 0.37 kW. [mH] slip istics
Ld- 1617 1617.2 1612.3 100.3
The synchronous reactances were determined unsatured
experimentally by the “small slips” method [9]. The minimum Ld-satured - 1207.7 1225.5 98.5
and maximum value of the line voltage, the minimum and Lq- 1072 - 1046.5 102.4
unsatured
maximum value of the current were registered. Results: Umin, Lad-satured - 1129.8 -
35 V, Umax, 35.2 V, Imin, 0.04 A, Imax, 0.06 A. With these values Laq-satured - 950 -
the unsaturated inductances were determined, Ld’’ 165.5 155.2 106.6
Lq’’ 181.4 189 95.97
U max Ld’ - 210 -
Ld =
3ωI min
(13) Finally, a 2D transient with motion analysis was performed
U min
Lq = in order to simulate the sudden short circuit regime. The rotor
3ωI max is imposed the synchronous speed and the stator windings are
separated by three opened switches, the generator operating in
From the no-load voltage characteristic and short-circuit
a no-load regime. After 50 ms the three switches close
current characteristic (reported to nominal value), Fig. 9, the
suddenly and simultaneously and a three-phase short-circuit
unsaturated and saturated value of the direct axis reactance (in
occurs. It is worth mentioning that the field winding must be
p.u.) were obtained.
supplied by a DC voltage source (not by a current source) in
These values are, order to enable the occurrence of the overcurrent in the
transient regime.
x d = 1 / 0.65 = 1.54 (14) The induced line voltages and sudden short circuit currents
are presented in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. In Fig.11 the transient
x d = 1.15 (15) torque is shown. The value of the voltage and that of the torque
must be multiplied by 2 because the length of the model
machine is only half of the real one.

a. Direct axis transient inductance determination

b. Quadrature axis transient inductance determination


Figure 8. Flux lines and current density Figure 9. Induced line voltages
Figure 11. Transient torque
a. The stator winding currents
It is also to be noticed that the value of the quadrature axis
subtransient inductance is higher than the direct axis
subtransient inductance. However, it must be taken into
account that this is a particular, low-power type of machine,
with only two pole pairs. In fact, as it results from Fig 7a and
7b the flux lines have a lower reluctance way in case b than in
case a. This is due to the reaction currents from the dumper and
field windings that prevent the stator winding flux from closing
through the rotor direct axis.
The nominal torque of this generator is 2.35 Nm and the
maximum torque in transient regime is about 13 Nm, which is
a torque 5.5 bigger than the nominal one.
The great advantage of using FEA is that it enables the
accurate parameters estimation even in the design phase. Also
some transient quantities, such as sudden short circuit currents
or transient torque are determined directly.
Last but not least, it can be stated that FEA enables the
simulation of all events that can occur in the operation time.
REFERENCES

[1] S. Taghipour Boroujeni, N. Bianchi, and L. Alberti, „Fast estimation of


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[3] Z. Kolondzovski, „Evaluation of methods for calculation synchronous
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Electromagnetic Fields, Budva, Serbia & Montenegro, pp.107-113, 23-
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[4] N. Bianchi, Electrical machine analysis using finite elements”, CRC
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„Uncertainty analysis in the evaluation of pmsm end-winding
inductance”, The 7thInternational symposium on advanced topics in
electrical engineering, Bucharest, Romania, May 12-14, 2011.
c. The field winding current
Figure 10. The sudden short circuit currents [7] R. Lin, A. Arkkio, “Calculation and Analysis of Stator End-Winding
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IV. CONCLUSIONS Magnetics, Vol. 45, No. 4, 2009.
[8] K. Shima and M. Takahashi, „Finite–Element Calculation of Leakage
This paper illustrates the FEA techniques used to determine Inductances of a Saturated Salient-Pole Synchronous Machine With
the salient poles synchronous generator parameters. In order to Damper Circuits”, IEEE Trans. Energy Conversion, Vol. 17, No. 4,
determine a certain parameter, several methods were described. December 2002, pp. 463-470.
Some of these parameters were determined experimentally as [9] Gh. Ovidiu Draganescu, The tests of rotating electrical machines (in
well, the results being shown in table I. It can be highlighted Romanian), Ed. Tehnica, Bucuresti, 1987.
that the FEA results are close to the experimental ones.

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