I.

290
STATOR CORE END HEATING IN AIR AND HYDROGEN INDIRECTLYCOOLED TURBOGENERATORS

B C Mecrow, A.G.Jack ..
University of Newcastle upon

K W Cowan ..

me,UK

NE1 Parsons Ltd., UK

I "
Within the past decade thm has been a significant change. in the market place f a turbine gartratorstowprds alowcr unit size. Thishas reopened development of air and hydmgen cooled machines with indirect cooling of tke. m m m . In machines with direct water cooled armanues sustained design md development e f f m has allowed elechic loadings to reach very high levels. In coorrast, indirectly cooled machines using air as the coolant have becn rather lowly rated both magnetically and elccaically; bowever the continuing highly competitive nature of the gemram manufacturingindvsay is forcing

machinesizedownandspccificloadingsup.'Ihisdcmandisbeingmet
with new materials coupled with the use of new analysis techniques allowing far moreconpd andartaintyin thedesign of problem mas.
One of the major results ofthe high eltctric loadings typical of water cooled armatme machines is that significant axially directed stray fields are produced in the ends of the sa c eof the machine. There tmu is thus a need for careful design of the endregion with respect to both heating andcooling mechanisms in orderthat machines can meet core temperature rise r c q h e n t s . Comprehensive analysis tools have been produced to calculate end region fields and are now in routine use.

of the air coded machint is 899 of the ( ) rmgnctic i The directly COOM m s c h .
(ii) The elccaic brding of the air cooled Mchine is 53% ofthe diitctly cooled mrohim.

(ii) Bothmachineshrvoamtosmagmtic h g t h w h i c b i s q d t o t h e stator length, but t e air-woled machine has a rotor end-winding h axial length 13% shorm than that of the directly cooled machine.
(iv) The air-cooled machine has a stator end-winding angle 10 degrees less than the directly cooled machine;consequently the axial length of the end-winding is 7% greater. (v) In order to maintain an appqxiate short-circuit ratio it is only necessary for the air-cnoledmachine to have an air-gap length 55% of that in the directly cooled machine. (vi) The air-cooled machine has more stator slots so that a high terminal voltage and low terminal current can be maintaine hence the mean stator tooth width is nduad to 63% of that in the directly cooled machine. (Both machines have pistoye slots in the machine ends.) (vii) The number of stator teeth per core plate segment in the air-cooled machine is double that of the directly cooled machine. (viii)The radiaVcircumferential cooling duct size and location is substantially differs between the two machines. (ix) The m end clamping plate is of a nonmagnetic material in the duectly cooled machine, whilst in the air cooled machine it is of a magnetic material. Both clamping plates have a copper eddy c m n t shield, however, as a consequem of the clamping plate material, the au-cooled machine has a shield which wraps round the inner surface of the clamping plate and the dircctly cooled machine does not.

In indirect air and hydrogen cooled machines possible loadings am down, but so are heat transfer rates in air cooled systems, so that temperatures are not necessarily reduced This paper addresses the
erukcgion design of such machines, using dirrct comparisons betweena 105MWair~ooledmachioc~da660MWdircctlycooled

machine.ThesourcesofendngionJWyfluxandlossareconsidcred
in detail, with explanation of their diffexing magnitudes related to loadings and geometrical differences.

To the a k a d y reported electromagnetic field calculation method is added a threemmensional temperam calculationprocedure which is capable of simultaneously calculating conduction, heat transfer and convection temperature rises. "be temperature calculation process is described and utilised in conjunction with the electmmagnetic computation to analyse a typical indirectly cooled design.

Details of the calculation method have already becn given elsewhere [12] and the approach builds upon the earlier work of others [3,4];
hence it will only be repeated very briefly here. The f i i t e element method is used to calculate the end-gion magneticfield dishibution: within nonconducting regions a magnetic scalar representation is employed, whilst within the stator core a single component elecuic vector potential is inucduced in order to represent the laminar eddy currents induced by stray axial fields. In earlier work both full three dimensional and quasi-three dimensional models have been developed: within this paper the quasi-three dimensional approach is adopted throughout for initial calculation of the machine magnetic field disnibution, with eddy c m n t reaction permitted only in the stam core back.The resulting axial fE1d distributionwithin the stator core is then used as a s so^ within aradiaVcircumfenntial model of a

All of the above mentioned differences must be considered in order to understand the differences in flux, loss and temperature which arise.

&

For comparison attention is focused upon eddy current losses withii the stator core and teeth and stator core axial flux the source of this loss. The axial fields resulting within the stator core end arise from a number of sources, but the primary ones am air-gap fringing and endwinding soufces. These two s o m s cannot be totally separated,

buttheopenandshoncircuittestscomeclosetodemonsuatingthetwo

29 1

effects. Before looking at load conditions it is therefore useful to first consider these two test conditions.

fringing present in the directly cooled machine, and more than a few mm into the stator core these losses become negligible in the smaller machine.

Fig. I shows the radial variation of axial flux density within the stator teeth and core for both machine types at an axial position 7mm from the core end. The axial flux distribution due to fringing takes on the f&iliar pattern of a high value near the stator tooth tips, rapidly decaying with radial position. It is immediately apparent that considerably lower flux densities occur in the air-cooled machine at allradialpositionsanditisnecessarytodeterminewhy thisisthecase. The axial flux incident upon the stator core end is primarily a function of the air-gap length and the magnetic loading. Indeed, if the stator core is assumed i n f ~ t e l ypermeable then the total fringing flux incident upon the core end is directly proportional to the product of ai%ap length and air-gap flux density. Thus it may be simply predictedthattheaircooledmachinewillhaveonly0.89x0.55 =49% of the fringing flux of the directly cooled machine. The total computed figure detemined from the finite elementresults is 55%. Clearly there are also other influencing factors,such as saturation,rotorendwinding position and tooth width to slot width ratio, all of which give rise to further minor modifications to the empirically predicted value. Consider now the loss densities resulting in the stator teeth. The stator teeth have radial pistoye slots in order maximise the eddy current path length and hence reduce tooth losses.The maximum eddy current path width in the stator teeth hence remains considerablyless than one skin depth, and it is safe to assume that the induced currents are resistance limited. In such a case the induced eddy cunents are proportionalboth xa ec to the a i l flux magnitude. and the stator tooth width. H n e the ratio of averagetoothlossdensityin thetwomachinescanbepredictedtobe 0.S2 0.632 = 0.12. The finite element calculated values give a ratio x ofO.11. The depth of axial penetration of axial flux into the stator core should also be considered Axial flux will wvel axially into the core before turning radially and circumferentially into the plane of the laminations. The axial distance travelled is a function of the ratio of axial to "in-plane" reluctance. With a highly loaded, directly cooled machine the stator iron flux density is already high, so the end laminations easily saturate with the additional fringing flux. The air cooled machine is less saturated and also has a substantiallyreduced friaging component, thus resulting in reduced in-plane reluctance. It also has wider radial cooling ducts, thus increasing the core axial reluctance. As a result the axial flux will not travel far axially into the core. This is demonstratedby results at an axial distance of 85mm into the core, where the calculated axial flux density in the air-cooled machine is only 27% of that in the larger machine. The ratio of tooth loss densities thus becomes 0.03, hence it is possible to conclude that the loss in the ai-cooled machine resulting from fringing flux is negligible except in the first few end laminations. Core end fringing flux is severely attenuated in the stator core back because of the radial distance of several air-gap lengths from its source and consequently the average core back loss density on open-circuit is low, in each case amounting to approximately 10% of th? mean value in the teeth. (Nevertheless, it has been previously shown 111, that the resultant skin limited core back eddy currents give rise to signifcant peak loss densities in certain lccalised regions.) The major conclusion from the open-circuit test calculations is how the combination of reduced ai-gap length, magnetic loading and tooth width combine to dramatically reduce the loss resulting from fringing flux. Finite element calculations predict that in the end laminations the ai-cooled machine incurs only 11% of the loss due to

Fig. 2 shows the axial flux distribution in the stator teeth and core at rated current, shortxircuit 7mm from the core end. As with the open-circuit case the air-cooled machine has much lower axial flux densities -approximately 41% of those in the directlycooledmachine. Endwinding currents form the predominantsourceof axial flux for the short-circuit condition; the axial flux distribution is therefore dominated by the electric loading, but also influenced by the position of the end-windings. i.e. the rotor and stator endwinding standout and the stator end-winding angle. Therefore 47% of the reduction is immediately accountable from the much lower permissible electric loading of the indirectly cooled machine. Previous work [5] has discussed the effect of end-winding angle upon losses: as the stator end-winding angle decreases the stator and rotor end-winding sources come close together and their global effect decreases. This is similar to how the flux generated by a coil eald diminishes as the separation of the sides of the coil reduce. D t i e calculations suggest that the 10" decrease in stator end-winding angle of the air-c~~led machine accounts for a further 6% d u c t i o n in core axial flux. Note that whilst the end-winding angle is of general importance the variation between designs is not related to the cooling method. The longer the end-winding the lower the core axial flux; the air-cooled machine has a longer stator end-winding, but a shorter rotor end-winding, therefore in this case the two effects tend tocancel out. Hence the differences in stator core axial flux in the machine on short-circuit can be explained to within 6% by consideration of the electric loading and stator end-winding angle alone. As in the open-circuit case stator tooth loss densities are proportional to the square of both axial flux density and tooth width. Hence it is possible to predict the ratio tooth loss densities to be 0.412 x 0.632= 0.067. The full finite element loss calculation gives a ratio of 0.063. Substantial core back losses occur during the short-circuit test, with both the axial flux and eddy currents flowing in a skin limited manner round the inner and outer radii of the core back. As in the stator teeth the ratio of axial flux within the core back can be expected to vary between machines in a manner proportional to the electric loading. Examination of fig. 3 shows that less axial flux occurs in the core back of the air-cooled machine than can be explained in terms of electric loading alone. The additional influencing factor is different core end-plate eddy current screen arrangementsin the two machines. The ak-cooled machine has a screen which is wrapped round the inner radius of the core end plate, and this provides additional screening of the core back itself [61. This feature is not one implicit to the two cooling methods, and therefore to some extent confuses the comparison between designs. Finite element calculationsindicate the ratio of eddy current losses between machines to be 0.12, whilst the electric loading and stator end-winding angle differences alone predict a ratio of 0.22. The error in the simple empirical calculation is entirely accountable for in terms of the core end plate screening differences. Hence from the shon-circuit test calculations it has been shown how the stator tooth stray losses are dramatically lower in the air-cooled machine, predominantly due to the substantially reduced electric loading, but also due to a reduced stator tooth width. The reduction in the core back is smaller, but still very substantial.

292

Power-f&m The full load. leading power-factor condition has been chosen for comparison, because it is this condition which gives rise to the maximum end-rcgion heating. Curves illustrating the stator tccth and core axial flux density 7mm axially into t e t r colt are shown in hm o

fig.3.Bothend-windingandfringingsourccrofaxialfluxaFprrsenr and it is t h a f o r e to be wrpectcdthat the ratioof axial flux in the core endtobesomewaybetwanthcopcPcircuitaodshort-circuitvalues. Indeed this proves to be true, wt thc air-cmled machine calculated ih t0,Cally 51% of the axial fluxafthcdircEtly mledcounterpan. The resultsaxe reflcctcdin tbe comsponding lossdensities at thislocation: the mean loss density ratio in the stator teh is 0.0% and in the core et back 0.100. As with the shon-cimit condition the losses in the core back at the core end are miwed by the con: end plate screening
arrangement. Considernowaposition 85mmintothe statorcore. Atthislocationthe ratio of stator tooth losses has decayed to 0.047, and indeed in the air-cooled machine they are low enough to be considerably less than the iron losses caused by flux in the Wcircumferential plane.. Regarding the air-cooled machine the following conclusions can be drawn from these results+ (iILThe core end fringing flux is severely reduced due to the considerably reduced &-gap kagth of indirectly cooled machines. Loss due tofringing is approximarelypuopoltionalto the square of the air-gap length.

hydrogen gas flowing radially in radiaVcircumferentialcmducts.Thchydmgenactsasavcryefficht coolant system, flowing at a high velocity, so that it has both a large thermal capacity and a high average heat hansfer coefficient with the duct sides. Radialcoolingofthecoreendsissupplemcnadbyanaxial duct arrangement, but right at the um tnd the ndialducting pFovides the m j r method of heat transfer. ao In-t air cooling of the &r machine also takes place througha ~ c i r c u m f e t w ~ t i ducting anangemcat. However thc air is a far al less efftcisnt coolant than hydrogen; as a rcsult both the thermal capacity of the airand its hcpr transGrcoefficiwiththeduct d a c e is of the ordcr of ten times lower than that of hydrogen. In additionto removing ~ l l iossss this ducting mangancnt nwt also runove the c coppcr losscs from the stator fondu*orbars.

core cooling is via

The thermal field disnibution repeats evny half t o h pitch, thus thc ot circumferential limits of the duec-dimeasional thermal model are defined. Fig. 4 shows an isothermalplot overthe surface ofthc dinnly cooled machine core end model, wt the gas coolant paths indicated ih using a one dimensional network.Thra "packe.ts"o M IVC shown. fC I separated by radialducts, and the main visible surface is a radial/ad cut throughthecatltn&of thss m t o r w p l d c a ~ . additionto& In

(ii) Lower magnetic loadings reduce fringing flux and associatedloss, with the laaer d m d y pmpmtional to the square o the magnetic f
loading. (iii) Typicallylarger slot numbns result in a furtherreductionof stator
tmth losses.

radialductsfauraxialductsaresbowa,tbnciaxbc~coocbacLMd one in the stator tc8Ih. Ihe plot is fortbclllcd bsa 0.95 leading power-facm d t i o n , and is considerably upladed in thc axial direction in ordsr to clarify thc tanpcrpnue distributioa. In this machlnc there is vcry liale transfer ofheat bctwctn con: urd s t a m conducm bar, thaefactkrc is 110 illccsoity to modclthe bar itself.
Hotsporsoccurbothinthestatortcethandinthenatorcon:bchindthe slot, with the highest temperannes ocaming in the first packet of of core between the. c m cnd and the f m t radiaJ duct. The region of an behinddrcsnuorslotnccivtspPniarlrrlyhigbhasdrarihskcavrc the core beck eddy c m t s are ski0 limit& they thus tlow predominqntly in two-w rcgiolu, one at thc bornan ofthe cue back and the othuallcavn patb near the con outcrndius.
Fig. 5 shows the equivalent isothermal colltour plot for the indinctly i t cooled machine, again at rrued load. 0.95 leading powex&K~. Wh this machine it is essential to explicitly include thc stator coaducmr bars in tbe model, because some of the copper los~es must be dissipapd thmughlhc stator con: itself. Despite the poorer core cooling mechanism thc stator core anpcnuures a substantially t reduced because of the much lowex core cnd losses discussed earlier, and indeedthe maximum com tcmpaanuclistis only om thirdof that in the directly cookd machine. In this particular design the axial spacing between ducts can be seen to bc miuccd in the mtt d i n order to facilitate incm& c m end cooliag. Because of this d u c t i o n um end tempaaMes are actually lowcr than those funher into the core.

(iv) Endwinding~venfluxisconsidtrably~sinceItisdirectly
p r o e o n a l to electric loading.

of(iHiv) the avenge resultant loss density at (v) As a c o o ~ c q u c ~ x the sa con:end of the machine eonsidcrcd is calculated to be only tm 10% of that in a large directly cooled machine. (vi) Lower magnetic loadings and less additional core end saturation duc toend~gionfluxrssnhinsignificantaxialfluxinducedlossonly at the very am end. Oace molt than say 1 0 h m axially into thc con: t i component of Loss is insignifhot. hs

Attention has so far focused upon axial flux and losses, but the most significant parameter is temperaturerise within the stator conductors. teeth and colt. In orda to BsccRainthe colt temperatun disrribution the calculated loss densities have been used as SOUICCS in a three dimensional thermal finite element model.This model includes both the conduction of beat within the teeth and coreand the dissipation of heat into gas flow paths throughout the core. Fmm the gas flow rate and its specific heat capacity it has also become possible to explicitly include the gas temperature rise w t i the solution. ihn

NOFD k c t water coolingofthc statorcondwtor barsin the largermachine

operates veyefficicnty,~~thethetorbarsmayevenbecooler than the s mg con:at t ends of the machine. Hence in such a k case the stator conducmr bars can even E t as a small sink for end-tgion induced iron loss. However the predominant method of

Consider now the stator conductor bar temperatures in the i n k t l y cooled machine. The conductor temperature can be seen to be considerably higher than that in the surroundingcon, and i d e the ned conductor temperaturerise is comparable with thc maximum core end temperam in the dmctly cooled machine. The finite elcmcnt caiculations imimte that approximately one half o the t h e t o r f losses are dissipated directly into the coolant duct and one half travel bCforc p8SSh$ h o the t llIl&dly through the SurrWnding This highlights the need for a good thcrmal contact between the conducm bar and the stator tooth sidc. CIUrrly the Dcmpaaaue rise due toaxialflux iaduced eddy CuawstsiS not acritical feature, it does not d d i i e the limits of operation at lcsdiag powcr-factor in the way thc axial flux does in large indirectly coolcd machines.

293

COS
Indirectly air-cooled machine and directly cooled machine end-rcgion fields, losscs and have been c o m p a d in detail. Thc lossesin indircny coolcd wachines a vay substantially m reducedduc toanumbcrdfacton.the most dominant of which is the s m a b ar ilength d 10 electric loading. Other typical features, such as l o w magnetic loadings and ianeased StsfoT slot number also Contribute to this duction. For the two machines considerrd the eddy m n t losses in the.staMc core end on load a . w only 10% ofthat in the directly cooled machine.
Three dimensional temperature calculations indicate that despite a poorer cooling circuit in an air-cdal machine the reduction in enckcgion losses is so great that only v a g moderate core end

- directly cooled machine - - - - indirectly cooled machine

tempcratwerisesoccllrasansuit.Thesratorconductorbaropcratesat a considerably higher ttmpmme than the core even in the end-rcgion, and it is this fcaturc which imposer the design limit. En6rcgion losses arc small enough to rqui~?. only minimal a d d i t i d design feahlresin order to nducc hem. Ihcelectric loading of air-cooled machines can bc substantially i n d before end-rcgion losses become a mo problem. jr

4 Q n

REFERENCES

tooth

core back radial position

% Iauthors would like to thank the staff of NEI Parsons ltd. for aid in the development of this work and permission to publish the paper.

1. Jack, A.G., and M m w , B C , A method to calculate .. turbogenerator end-rcgion fields and losses and validation using measured r c d t s ~Maxh 1987. ,

Figure 1. The radial variation of nxisl nux density h the namr tarb and core 7mm axially into the core end. Raed valts, o p c n 4 m i t condition.

2. M m w , B.C., and Jack, A.G.,A thm. dimensional formulation for laminar eddy murent flow in the. stator cores of mrkogenerators, Munich, September 1986.

and Steel,

3. Jacobs,D.A,H.,Minors, RH.,Myerscough.C.J.,Rollason, M.L.J., J G . Calculation of losses in the end-region o .. f turbogenerators.R c . o . 124,1977, p.356.
402

. Tokumasu, T , .Nagano, S ,Ta~i, andDoi,Simulationfor . M., 4. Ito, K , design purposes of magnetic fields in turbine driven generator end-region, IEEETrans.1980, PAS-99, p1586.
5. M a w , B C ,Jack, A.G., and Cross, C.S., The Elmmagnetic ..
~

- - -indirectly
,
m
PI

-directly

cooled machine cooled machine

design of turbogeneratorendngions, RodEL P r C, November at 1989.

6. M m w , B.C..Jack, A.G., and Cross, C S ,Turimgenerator .. electromagnetic design - n e design of eddy cumnt shields for screening of end-rcgions, p 1989. London, ,

. D
rl W
r(

---------

-4

tooth

core back radial position

F i g m 2. The radial vnription of axial flux density in the stator teeth and COIC 7mm axially into the caeend Rated Mltnf rhwrt-circuit condition.

I
294

- - - indirectly cooled

-directly

cooled machine machine

radial position

Figure 3. ne of and 7mm axially into the power-factor condition.

flux density in the teeth end. Rated power, 0.95 leading

Figure 5. Isothermalplot illustratingstator teeth andcore temperalures in the indirectly Cooled machine for the rated power leading power-factor condition. (Diagram is of one half slot pitch, showing temperatures on a radial/axid cut up the centre of a stator tooth and at the surface of cooling ducts.)

Figure 4 Isothermal plot illustratingstator teeth and core temperatures in the directly cooled machine for the rated power leading power-factor condition. (Diagram is of one half slot pitch, showing temperatures on a radiWaxidcut up the centre of a stator tooth and at the surface of cooling ducts.)