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I. INTRODUCTION
An as yet little-considered electrical machine has the
potential to the optimal generator for wind turbines: the
permanent magnet-excited induction machine (PMIM). A
freely suspended intermediate permanent magnet rotor
rotates between stator and rotor cage (Fig. 1) and
supports the excitation of the machine. This allows
asynchronous function despite having a large air gap and
small pole pitch. The principle combines the advantages
of the induction machine (little maintenance, easy grid
connection and stable operation at the supply network)
with the advantages of the permanent magnet-excited
synchronous machine (high torque at small pole pitch,
good efficiency). When utilizing the PMIM as a generator
for wind-turbines the generator can be directly coupled to
the turbine and the grid. Thus the gearbox and the
frequency converter, which contribute significantly to
wind turbine losses, can be abandoned.
The idea of an internally excited induction machine in those days realized with electromagnets - was first
discussed by Punga and Schn [1] in 1926 for application
as a one phase locomotive drive. Supply of power to the
electromagnets via slip-rings, however, reduces the
reliability of the system. A logical alternative is to replace
the electromagnets by permanent magnets, which was
done by Douglas [2] in 1959 and Sedivy [3] in 1967. The
main objective of those projects was to improve the
power factor of a conventional induction machine. Due to
the fact that the energy product of available permanent
magnets was relatively low, the machine was described as
rather impractical.
Some years later in 1992, further investigations of the
PMIM - now using rare earth magnets - were carried out
by Low and Schofield [4]. The chosen PMIM configuration was different in that an internal magnet rotor and a
squirrel-cage ring were utilized. Despite a rather good
performance of the small prototype, the project was
stopped because of financial considerations.
The latest investigations have been carried out at
Darmstadt University of Technology by Hagenkort [5],
Gail [6] and Troester [7]. There the aim was not only to
improve the power factor, but to implement a directly
driven induction machine with a large diameter for wind
power applications.
Continuing with this work, this paper describes the
finite element analysis of a PMIM. The aim is to show,
how the PMIM can be modeled and how the
characteristics (e.g. torque, efficiency, power factor)
depend on the magnet height of the machine.
II. MODELLING A PMIM USING FINITE ELEMENTS
As the PMIM has a squirrel cage and permanent
magnets, the calculation method has to be examined
closely. Some FEM-Programs are able to calculate PMmachines or induction machines but not both at a time.
Those programs can do steady-state or harmonic
calculations. To calculate the PMIM transient
calculations are necessary. Thus a program had to be
taken, which is able to do transient calculations, which
lead to the general purpose software ANSYS.
Further decisions about the calculation method had to
be made. According [8], FEM-calculations of induction
machines have been applied basically with three different
classifications:
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2-D or 3-D
Fixed mesh or moving mesh
Eddy current model or circuit model
Symbol
Value
Diameter
5m
Air gap
2x 5 mm
Pole pairs
150
Phases
Stator voltage
Vs
690 V
Frequency
50 Hz
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787
0.5 ms
AMD Athlon 64 X2
Dual-Core 4400+
approx. 40 min
Fig. 6 Current locus with calculation fault
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IV. RESULTS
To get an idea, how the PMIM works, the flux
distribution at no load (Fig. 7) and at a slip of 3% (Fig 8)
is presented.
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Fig. 11. Efficiency and power factor vs. power for a stator voltage of
690 V and different magnet heights (hm)
V. CONCLUSIONS
Fig. 12. Efficiency and power factor vs. power for a stator voltage of
800 V and different magnet heights (hm)
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