Slide 1

Material
Patent Pending
Constant Voltage Permanent Magnet
Wind Generator
Andrew Hirzel
LE Incorporated
October 14, 2003
andy@lightengineering.com
Slide 2
Material
Patent Pending
Overview
Problem Description (3)
Geometry Construction (8)
Propose Solution (9)
Review Solution
Power, Voltage, Efficiency (6)
BEMF waveform (2)
Cogging (6)
Rotor Losses (3)
Axial Force (1)
Slide 3
Material
Patent Pending
Project Definition
Speed range: 1000 2000 rpm
Voltage range: 410 480 Vrms (line)
Machine Efficiency:
90% min at lightest load
95% min at maximum power
Passive Rectification to DC
Power Output Proportional to Rotor-Speed
3
Power Output 100 kW at 2000 rpm
Slide 4
Material
Patent Pending
Wind Generator Goal
Power Output and Terminal Voltage
250
300
350
400
450
500
900 1400 1900 2400
Speed, RPM
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
k
W

P
o
w
e
r
Output Voltage, max
Output Voltage, nom
Output Voltage, min
Target Power ~ Rotor Speed Cubed
Power ~ rotor-speed
3
Voltage > 410 Vrms
Voltage < 480 Vrms
Slide 5
Material
Patent Pending
Wind Generator Goal
Power Output and Machine Efficiency
85%
87%
89%
91%
93%
95%
97%
99%
900 1400 1900 2400
Speed, RPM
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
k
W

P
o
w
e
r
Target Efficiency
Target Power
Slide 6
Material
Patent Pending
Axial Airgap Stator:
Example with 12 slots
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
One stator shown
Single wound
amorphous metal
ribbon, followed by
slot cutting
Slide 7
Material
Patent Pending
Stator shown with Phase Coils
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
0.5 slots/phase/pole
Discrete coils
Wired A-B-C-A-B-C
C
A
B
B
C
A
Slide 8
Material
Patent Pending
Axial-Gap Rotor and Shaft: 8 Poles
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
Surface magnets
(thru rotor)
North red
South blue
Shaft and rotor
shown for clarity
Slide 9
Material
Patent Pending
Complete Axial-Gap Machine: 12 Slots
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
One rotor assembly
Two stator assemblies
Housing not shown
Slide 10
Material
Patent Pending
Minimum Machine for EM Analysis
Shaft and disk not
needed for analysis
Actual airgap 2.5 mm
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
A
C
B
Slide 11
Material
Patent Pending
Boundary and Planar Entities: 12 Slots
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
Master-slave boundaries
Current sources (not
shown)
Analysis surfaces;
orthogonal grid
Tangent/normal
boundaries
Slide 12
Material
Patent Pending
Actual Sized Machine to meet
Project Specifications
466 cm diameter
13 cm axial length
72 Slots
24 Pole Pairs
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
Slide 13
Material
Patent Pending
Maxwell 3D Macro
1200 lines main code; 400 lines post processor code
Performs following:
Allows direct change to all parameters
Draws geometry
Assigns materials
Assigns boundaries
Defines solver options
Runs solver
Runs post processor macro
Writes inputs/outputs and writes to a .txt file
Iterates all of the above, on any variable
Homegrown Opti metri cs
Slide 14
Material
Patent Pending
Variation in Flux Density Inside Coils
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
A phase
B phase
C phase
Analysis for 1/6
of synchronous
cycle, i.e. 1/6 of
pole-pair angle.
Observation of
symmetry
concludes that
this is all the
analysis needed.
Slide 15
Material
Patent Pending
Assembled Variation in Flux Density
Assembly of
synchronous
cycle from 1/6
analysis
Makes macro
code much
faster and much
easier to write -1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
17
1
3
1
9
2
5
3
1
3
7
4
3
4
9
5
5
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
A phase
B phase
C phase
Slide 16
Material
Patent Pending
Results from Macro
Cogging
Ripple
Flux in core and backiron
Flux variation in magnet demagnetization potential
Axial Forces
Limited by your code
Slide 17
Material
Patent Pending
On to the Solution
Need
Constant Voltage plus
Increasing Speed plus
Increasing Power plus
Permanent magnet equals
.
Not possible (?)
Slide 18
Material
Patent Pending
Stators In-line
Standard stator
arrangement: Both
stators are
physically in-line,
causing series
connected voltage
to add to 2X single-
side voltage.
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
Slide 19
Material
Patent Pending
Stator Shifting: Method of EMF Control by
Relative Rotation about Z-axis
Upper stator section is kept
fixed relative to the rotation
about z-axis of the lower
section.
Previously in-phase coils
are taken out of phase.
Series connection causes
additive resulting sine-
wave voltage.
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
Slide 20
Material
Patent Pending
Stator Movement: Method of EMF Control by
Relative Rotation
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
Amount of relative
rotation
never greater than
1 pole pitch; in this
example 1 pole pitch
~30 mm.
Slide 21
Material
Patent Pending
How much movement?
1 Pole Pitch = 7.5 degrees
1 Pole Pitch ~ 30mm circumferentially
1 Slot Pitch = 2/3 Pole Pitch
Slide 22
Material
Patent Pending
Stators Shifted by 25% Pole Pitch with Serial
Addition of Waveforms
No load
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Stator fixed
Stator shift 25%
Series stators
Best Fit Series
THD=2%
Slide 23
Material
Patent Pending
Stators Shifted by 25% Pole Pitch with Serial
Addition of Waveforms
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Stator fixed
Stator shift 25%
Series stators
Best Fit Series
Rated load
THD=4%
Slide 24
Material
Patent Pending
Stators Shifted by 66% Pole Pitch with Serial
Addition of Waveforms
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Stator fixed
Stator shift 66%
Series stators
Best Fit Series
No load
THD=7%
Slide 25
Material
Patent Pending
Stators Shifted by 66% Pole Pitch with Serial
Addition of Waveforms
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Stator fixed
Stator shift 66%
Series stators
Best Fit Series
Rated load
THD=20%
Slide 26
Material
Patent Pending
Stators Shifted by 66% Pole Pitch with Serial
Line-Line Waveform
Rated load
THD=6%
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Phase A
Phase B
Line A-B
Best Fit
Slide 27
Material
Patent Pending
How is this all useful?
Find a machine solution, passive rectification using
basic phasor diagrams and algebra
Solve at lowest speed, 0% shift
Solve at increasing speed, while increasing the stator
shift to keep terminal voltage near constant
Solution: 73% pole pitch shift needed = 22 mm
movement circumferentially
Slide 28
Material
Patent Pending
Results Voltage vs. Target Voltage
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
900 1400 1900 2400
Speed, RPM
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
V @ max power
V @ min power
target V nominal
Slide 29
Material
Patent Pending
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
900 1400 1900 2400
Speed, RPM
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
k
W

P
o
w
e
r
target V nominal
Target Power
max power
min power
Results Power vs. Target Power
Voltage would be exceeded
So power cannot be maintained
Slide 30
Material
Patent Pending
85%
87%
89%
91%
93%
95%
97%
99%
900 1400 1900 2400
Speed, RPM
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
Eff @ max power
Eff @ min power
Target Efficiency
Results Efficiency vs. Target Efficiency
Voltage would be exceeded
So current must increase
Slide 31
Material
Patent Pending
Resulting needed Stator Movement
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
0 1000 2000 3000
Speed, RPM
m
m
circum movement
for max power
circum movement
for min power
Ref:
30 mm=pole pitch
20 mm=slot pitch
Voltage would be exceeded
Slide 32
Material
Patent Pending
Speed and Power vs. Stator Position
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0
movement, mm
s
p
e
e
d
,

R
P
M
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
P
o
w
e
r
,

k
W
spd @ max power
spd @ min power
max power
min power
Voltage would be exceeded
Slide 33
Material
Patent Pending
Speed and Voltage vs. Stator Position
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0
movement, mm
s
p
e
e
d
,

R
P
M
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
spd @ max power
spd @ min power
V @ max power
V @ min power
Voltage would be exceeded
Slide 34
Material
Patent Pending
Other items of interest:
Flux Density in Backiron
Discontinuity is
not real, its a
function of
solver accuracy
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
no load B in
backiron
load B in backiron
Slide 35
Material
Patent Pending
Cogging Controlled via 3D Optimized
Magnet Spacing
Maxwel l 3D Magnetostati c
Typical approach to
design minimal
cogging into
machine is via 3D
analysis and
variation of magnet
spacing.
Slide 36
Material
Patent Pending
Stator Shifting and Effect on Cogging
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Rotor Position
N
-
m
Pole Pitch 0% - Slot Pitch 0%
Pole Pitch 25% - Slot Pitch 38%
Pole Pitch 33% - Slot Pitch 50%
Pole Pitch 40% - Slot Pitch 60%
Pole Pitch 67% - Slot Pitch 100%
Slide 37
Material
Patent Pending
Unfortunately, Axial Forces Increase with
amount of Stator Shift
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Pole Pitch Percent
A
x
i
a
l

F
o
r
c
e
,

N
Slide 38
Material
Patent Pending
No Load;
Review Flux Density in Magnet Grid
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
0 5 10 15
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Leading OR
Central OR
Trailing OR
Leading R
Central R
Trailing R
Leading IR
Central IR
Trailing IR
Slide 39
Material
Patent Pending
Rated Load;
Review Flux Density in Magnet Grid
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 5 10 15
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Leading OR
Central OR
Trailing OR
Leading R
Central R
Trailing R
Leading IR
Central IR
Trailing IR
Slide 40
Material
Patent Pending
3X Rated Load; All current in D-axis
Review Flux Density in Magnet Grid
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
0 5 10 15
Rotor Position
T
e
s
l
a
Leading OR
Central OR
Trailing OR
Leading R
Central R
Trailing R
Leading IR
Central IR
Trailing IR
De-magnetization
is a real concern!
Slide 41
Material
Patent Pending
A Plug for Maxwell 2D: AC Ohmic Loss
Maxwel l 2D Transi ent Sol ver
2D transient analysis
Determines AC losses
Due to proximity effects
+/-20% error vs. test
Slide 42
Material
Patent Pending
Solution Results
Power = 98kW at 2000 rpm
Power follows rotor-speed
3
for 2X speed range
Voltage stays within 410 480 Vrms range
Efficiency > 94%
Harmonic content increases (changes) with Stator
Shift
Axial force increases with Stator Shift