Browsing by Author "Dippenaar, Jandre"
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- ItemDesign optimisation and performance of a simplified 5 MW reluctance synchronous wind generator(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Dippenaar, Jandre; Kamper, Maarten; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Wind turbines are one of the solutions currently being implemented to address a globally increasing energy demand. Ongoing research, concerning every aspect of a wind turbine, aims to find better solutions in this field. One of these research aspects is the generator. This study investigates a 5 MW, 10- pole, 3-phase, medium speed, reluctance synchronous wind generator. These generators often make use of distributed flux-barriers in their rotors, with varying levels of complexity. However, in this thesis, a much simpler salient pole rotor design is investigated that addresses a lack in the body of knowledge on simple, multi-megawatt reluctance synchronous generators (RSGs). The salient-pole RSG is compared to a published equivalent RSG that has a typical flux-barrier rotor. In order to make this comparison, the design parameters of the salient-pole RSG are kept as close as possible to that of the flux-barrier RSG. Performance results are obtained by combining a FEM- and an optimisation package for the design optimisation of the salient-pole RSG. The FE results are verified with a second, independent FEM package. From the performance results, a low power factor is clearly one of the weakest aspects of the salient-pole RSG design. In an attempt to improve this low power factor, a few modifications a remade to the salient-pole rotor structure, based on rotor designs from the literature. These modifications include slitting, chamfering and tapering. The power factor is most improved by a fourth, more substantial, modification resulting in a split-pole RSG design. For this design, the rotor poles are split down the middle and separated by an air-gap. Finally, suggestions are made for the physical construction of such a split-pole design, which is accompanied by a FE deformation analysis.