DESIGN OF AN AXIAL FLUX PERMANENT MAGNET WIND POWER GENERATOR

L. SMerlund, A. Koski, H. VihriiiluB, J-T. Eriksson and R. Perill2

Tampere University of Technology, Finland

INTRODUCTION

Direct driven variable speed permanent magnet wind power generators (PMWG) have recently received an increasing amount of attention. The reason for this is the reduced cost of the produced electric power made possible by the elimination of the gearbox and by the use of variable speed increasing the energy capture. Traditionally the gearbox is required to increase the low rotational speed of the turbine (typically 20-40 rpm) up to a speed suitable for a common 4-pole generator (1500 rpm). The removal of the gearbox increases system availability and reduces its weight, losses and the need for maintenance. However, the low rotational speed calls for a generator with a very large number of poles. Furthermore, the generator must naturally be efficient and cost competitive. Due to the variable speed scheme a frequency converter is required to supply the power to a grid. The requirement of a large pole number can be met with permanent magnets which allow small pole pitch. A simple and effective generator structure is realized by the disc type axial flux configuration,the active parts of which are presented in Fig.1. The stator is a toroid wound from iron tape accommodating rectangular coils forming an a i r gap winding. Rotor discs with attached permanent magnets reside on both sides of the stator. In this paper optimum design based on minimizing the sum

of investment and energy loss costs for a 100 kW prototype generator is searched. The investment costs cover only the cost of the active part material while the manufacturing and structural costs are assumed to be constant over the dimensional range studied. DESIGN PROCEDURE The turbine is allowed to rotate with variable speed, which means that the power and frequency of the generator vary constantly. Thus the generator must be designed not only for one specific operating point but for the whole operating range determined by the wind speed distribution. The dimensions of the active parts are obtained from the conventional magnetic circuit laws based on the assumptions of ideal materials and even flux distribution. However, certain correction factors, which are purely empirical and have been determined by the test results of a recently built 10 kW model generator, have been taken into account in the calculations. Magnet thickness h , as a function of a i r gap flux density is given by

i r gap flux density where B, = average a = relative permeability of magnet p , g = air gap thickness b = winding thickness B, = remanent flux density of magnet It has been assumed that the average air gap flux density is 80% of the value of an ideal magnetic circuit. Letting be the fraction of pole area occupied by
magnet. the total magnet mass mPM is given by

where ppM= density of magnet material, 7500 kg/m3 ROi= outer and inner radius of stator toroid The permanent magnet material is preferably NdElFe, the price of which is about 90 ECU/kg (spring 1997).
J

Stator core thickness s, is given by

Fig.1 Schematic cross section of PMWG.

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EMD97 1-3 September 1997 Conference Publication No. 444 0 IEE 1997

(3) where r, = mean radius of stator toroid B, = maximum flux density allowed in iron p = pole pair number A correction factor of 1.25 is used above to take into account the uneven flux distribution in the core. Ideally the rotor iron thickness should be half of that in the stator. However, according to our experience equal iron thicknesses should be used in both rotor and stator because of the uneven flux distribution. Consequently, the total mass of t'hree iron cores m, is mpe = 3 P ,~ , p ( R O z R , 2 ) (4) where pps = densiity of iron, 7860 kg/m3 A three phase air gap winding consists of three coils per pole. The wire diameter is kept small in order to avoid excessive eddy currents in the conductors. The phase number is increased to reduce the conductor density to an acceptable valua A large number of phases results in a small pole pitch and in very narrow and thick coils. It is not recommendable to use parallel branches within one phase because of the high risk of circulating currents. A better way is to use several independent three phase systems and rectify each one separately. In our case six three phase systems are used so that a nominal phase number m=18 is achieved. Some coil positions must be reserved for the stator support structure. Let this number be N , .The total number of coils is thus ( 6 ~ 4 4 )A . number of turns per coil N,is selected so that a nominal phase voltage of U,,=207 V is achieved at nominal rotational speed %=60rpm. N, is obtained from

frequency f as well as phase voltage vary linearly with wind speed v up to the rated values. Above the rated operation point they stay at constant nominal values. On the other hand, the power is proportional to the third power of wind speed. Consequently all the loss power components, namely copper losses and eddy current losses in conductors and iron loss, are dependent on the wind speed. When an annual loss energy is determined, each loss power component has to be weighted with Weibull wind speed probability function W. The annual loss energy W, is calculated from
W, = T P,(v)W(c,vm,v)dv+TPIn W(c,vm,v)dv
" m .

"1
""

(9)

where P, T c v,
v,

= loss power as a function of wind speed =time = site dependent constant in Weibull function = nominal wind speed = mean wind speed

Iron loss at typical flux density in electrical machines can be evaluated by [ll Piron = mF,(0.05f+0.0005$)(W) (10) Setting f=np with n varying linearly with wind speed an expression for iron loss below the rated wind speed becomes

Similarly for the nominal iron loss above the rated wind speed with constant frequency,
Pironn = mFc(0.05pnn+0.0005p2n,Z) (W)

Total winding resistance is given by

= nominal emf of single coil turn = active part radial length An average length 1 of one coil turn can be approximated by 1, = 2(laC,+2b+s,c) (6)

where e,

4 ,

The power produced by the turbine is given by P, = -pinR,v,Cp 1 2 3 = mUphIph 2

(14)

The winding thickness b to be used in (1) and (6) is (7) where 4, = wire diameter h = filling factor for winding The winding mass; m, is given by

where p, = density of air, 1.26 kg/m3 R, = turbine radius, 10 m C, = turbine power coefficient, 0.3 Using equations (3,(6), (13) and (14) and keeping in mind that the phase voltage varies linearly with wind speed, the copper loss below the rated wind speed becomes

where p& = density of copper, 8940 kg/m3 For variable speed systems with PM generators the

where G = geometry dependent constant Similarly for the copper loss above the rated wind speed

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The eddy current loss in conductors can be evaluated from [2]

density range of 7.6-2.5 A " /'

in copper.

where B, = peak flux density in conductors a , = angular electrical frequency, 2nf V, = active part copper volume T h i s can be rewritten to get an expression for eddy current loss as a function of wind speed below the rated value
P,

+BPP

2 2 4 dJJphnm,

@P,B,rJ:

2 v," v, = F, 2

Vm

Similarly, above rated wind speed Pedm/, = F. There are five basic design parameters, namely phase number m, air gap flux density B,, toroid outer radius R , active part length and wire diameter 4. When optimizing the geometry these parameters are varied within appropriate limits. The choice of phase number is strongly related to the pole pair number, which dictates the output frequency as well as the total number of coils. The nominal frequency should be around 50 Hz and each phase should have equal amount of coils even after the number of stator supports have been accounted for. The support must be able to give sufficient mechanical strength while its thickness must not exceed h i s and the need to keep the wire that of the winding. T diameter small lead to a large phase number. On the other hand, a large phase number leads to a large number of stator supports thus increasing the winding and magnet thickness. Phase number of 18 and pole pair number of 45 was chosen as a compromise between all the requirements mentioned above. The a i r gap flux density should be kept quite low for the following reasons. First, the absence of teeth lead to a very large magnet thickness at high flux density. Second, a large flux density leads to high eddy current losses in the conductors. Accordingly, a range of 0.25-0.45 T was chosen. The generator outer radius should not exceed 10-15% of that of the turbine. Typically it is advantageous to have a large outer radius in axial flux machines. So a range of 0.9-1.2 m was chosen. To maximize the torque per given volume the ratio between toroid outer and inner radii should be 43. However, this is neither mechanically nor economicallyreasonable and consequently relatively short active part length will be
used. The range of 0.05-0.18 m was chosen. A small

The minimum overall costs as a function of outer radius and a i r gap flux density are presented in Fig.2. It can be seen that the costs decrease with increasing outer radius thus implying that the radius should be very large. Naturally there will be critical radius above which the costs will increase. Furthermore, this study does not include structural costs, which tend to decrease the critical radius. In all the future studies of machines with nominal power of several hundred kW a model for structural costs is needed. There exists an optimum value for air gap flux density. With outer radius 1.2 m a i r gap flux density 0.35 T may be used. However, this design leads to a current density 6.1 A / " , ' which is extremely high value, especially because of the additional eddy current loss. It can be seen in Fig2 that the overall costs do not depend very strongly on the air gap flux density. It is therefore wise to decrease the air gap flux density and increase the wire diameter so that the sum of eddy current and copper loss decreases. The main active part dimensions determined this way are presented in Table 1. NUhGRICAL COMPUTATIONS Due to the assumptions made in the analytical design it is obvious that the geometry has to be refined and justified with the aid of numerical computations. The computations were made basically in 2-D, but the f i n a l 3-D check was also carried out. The starting geometry is the one presented in Table 1. The computations were executed both at no load and with nominal currents. Despite the correction factors the magnet thickness given by the algorithm is too small to produce the desired axial flux density of 0.33 T. The number of turns per coil may be increased from 28 to 30 without increasing the winding thickness. With 30 turns the nominal voltage is achieved at a flux density of 0.31 T. Consequently the magnet thickness can be decreased and
x

,,J'

/!'-

..... .................. ................................. ,. ................

wire diameter leads to small eddy current losses and small magnet thickness at a given air gap flux density but also to high copper losses. Both loss components are strongly dependent on wind speed. Thus a compromise value must be found. Due to the typical operational range of variable speed wind power application it is likely that a wire diameter leading to a high current density at nominal point is chosen. Thus a range of 2.12-3.7 mm is chosen. This corresponds to a current

ig.2 Minimum costs as a function of outer radius.

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TABLE 1 Optinnal active part dimensions Phase number Toroid outer radius (m) Air gap flux density (T) Active part length (m) Wire diameter, bare (mm) Number of turns per coil Winding thickness (mm) Iron core thickness (mm) Magnet thickness (mm) Active part weighit (kg) Axial active part length (mm) Active part material cost (ECU) Overall costs (ECU) 18 1.2 0.33 0.1 1 2.5 28 9.8 19.4 9.3 560 102.4 1lo00 26700

OS

0.4

i
8
s

0.3 03
0.1

o
4.1 4
1200

Fig.4 A i r gap flux density over one pole given by 3-D. the overall costs increase only very slightly due to the increased loss energy costs. A lowered flux density results in slightly overestimated rotor and stator firon core thicknesses. A surprisingly small difference in flux density exists between core thicknesses 15 and 20 mm. Consequently the stator core thickness was set to commercially available tape width of 15 mm. This is also the . On the rotor side the core thickness was set to 18.5 mm which is magnetically oversized, but the: rotor core acts also as a mechanical support. The air gap flux cbnsity at the mean toroid radius given by both 2-D and 3-D is presented in Fig.3. There is a nice agreement bletween the two. This is because the ratio of radial length of the coils to the axial length is rather large. Thus; the effect of the end windings at the mean radius is small, which is also confirmed by Fig.4. The field created by the induced coil currents makes the waveform asymmetrical (see Fig.3). At the leading pole edge the main fielld is weakened and at the trailing edge it is strengthened. The same is true for the other stator half. The magnet material used in all the calculations is NdBFe. Its demagnetization curve is practically linear up to 14OOC with a slope equal to the recoil permeability, which means that the magnets are almost demagnetization proof. Nevertheless, it is wise to check that the operation point lies on the straight portion of the demagnetization curve. According to 3-D results, the flux density in magnets is at minimum 0.4 T, which is well above the minimum value allowed.

As expected, small changes had to be made after

numerical computations. However, the design algorithm proved itself to be an efficient tool for a quick evaluation of the dimensions and costs of a generator with given terminal characteristics. THERMAL BEHAVIOUR A wind power generator rarely operates at nominal power, which was accounted for by the Weibull function. The optimization leads to a relatively high / " * , at the nominal point. current density, about 5.5 A A thermal model was created in order to make sure there is no overheating at any operating point. The modelling is based on familiar thermal network, where the resistances are partly determined by the experimental data from the model generator. A toroidal stator machine in wind power applications has two features leading to ineffective cooling. Firstly, the stator winding and core are apart from the frame. Thus the heat is convectively transferred from the winding to the air inside. Secondly, the generator's rotational speed and the resulting velocity of the air inside is very low. This leads to a poor heat transfer between the winding and air and also between air and frame. On the other hand, the winding is very thin and has a large surface with a i r
inside. A heat transfer to the ambient air from the frame

05

w (W

is obviously effective with wind and normal cooling ribbons.

ig.3 A i r gap flux density given by 2-D and 3-D.

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A class H insulated wire can withstand temperatures up to 180C. but the epoxy resin sets the maximum temperature allowed in the winding to 120C. The winding must be impregnated due to the absence of teeth to give it the necessary rigidity. A proper margin to the maximum magnet temperature has to be left to avoid a hazardous demagnetization.

losses can be minimized by choosing a material with high resistivity and thus stainless steel is a good choice. The magnets must be securely fastened against the tangential forces originating from operational torque. Gluing is not a reliable method, since the thermal coefficients of magnet material and iron are different. The magnets can be fastened to the core by brass wedges between the magnet poles. This means that the magnets must be a little tapered say 10". The tapering must be made during the manufacturing process, since the NdBFe can not be machined. Practically the wedges are at a static magnetic field so that no significant eddy currents are induced. Any axial movement and the deformation of the rotor structure must be securely prevented. A rigid rotor support structure can be attained by coupling the discs together.
A common problem with permanent magnet machine construction is the assembly. In the present type of generator, however, the assembly of the magnets can be made piece by piece with all the iron parts already in their positions so that at any stage there are no strong forces present.

According to the thermal model a clearly unacceptable maximum winding temperature of 167C at the rated point is achieved and thus a natural cooling is by no means a sufficient method. An extra fan is needed. The flow of air should be parallel to the stator winding, as in radial flux machines. This is difficult to carry out perfectly in toroidal stator machines because of the closed construction. (The enclosed structure is a necessity since there is a lot of sand and salt in the a i r at a typical wind power site near the coastline). The forced cooling system must be designed so that an air velocity 12 m/s is achieved near the winding. Then the temperature rises in different parts of the machine are as shown in Table 2. The results clearly show that the critical point is the heat transfer from the winding to the air inside.

CONSTRUCTIONAL VIEWS
The main problems are related to the support structure of the stator and the magnets. There exist considerable attractive forces between the stator and the rotor. The effect of the forces is pronounced in axial field generators with a large diameter. Ideally the stator core would be exactly in the middle between the rotor discs and there would be no net force on the stator core or on the rotor structure. However, in practice the support structure must be designed to withstand these forces. Some space must be reserved on the stator toroid for the support structure. A trade-off must be made between the mechanical strength and the eddy current losses. A solid metallic material gives a sufficient strength, but the disadvantage is that eddy currents are induced in it. The TABLE 2 - Temperature rises in different parts with forced cooling, "C winding Stator core Intemal air casing . 86 84 28 12

CONCLUSION A PMWG offers an efficient option for a direct driven wind power generator provided that a careful optimization procedure over the whole wind speed range has been carried through. Although PMWG might, together with a frequency converter, be more expensive than the generators of today, the benefits are clear: the reduced overall weight of the drive train, the reduced need for maintenance, increased efficiency and lowered lifetime costs. REFERENCES [l] Alatalo, M.: The Use of Rare-Earth-Metals and Disc-Designed Generators in Order to Increase the Output from the Windmill. European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition EWEC '89, pp.788-791, Glasgow, 1989. [2] Spooner, E., Chalmers, B.J.: 'TORUS': A Slotless, Toroidal-Stator, Permanent-Magnet Generator. IEE Proceedings-B, Vol 139, n:o 6, pp. 497-506, November 1992.

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