Abstract

An increase in the demand for electrical power and tremendous growth of renewable energy sources has been seen in the last decade, which resulted in designing the wind turbine system components for higher load point performance, resulting in higher annual energy production. Cost optimization, weight reduction, and lower non-conformance cost are some of the expectations that the wind turbine needs to meet in the present stringent market condition. Overheating of the wind turbine system components is one of the primary challenges to overcome when the system operates at a higher load point. The overheating issue of the wind turbine generator system is the subject of this research. Windings and bearings are two primary components susceptible to failure in the wind turbine generator. Overheating accelerates the generator windings and bearings failure. A detailed investigation has been done on the air to the air-cooled generator in a test wind turbine in Europe. A unique cooling design has been proposed. The temperature rise in the test generator with a new cooling design found to be substantially lower, and the signification temperature dropped has been measured in winding and bearing temperature, which allows the machine to operate at the higher load point. All the risks and mitigation associated with the proposed design are thoroughly evaluated. The research presents the issue of generator winding strand tilt with a system approach and explains how the system performance can be evaluated with respect to a component level performance. The issue of measuring strand tilt is presented in a case study. Selecting a correct insulation system for the generator winding for the wind turbine application has been recommended to IEC/IEEE. The research presents a unique finding in the difference in drive and non-drive end bearing temperature. A proposal has been made to update IEC/IEEE standard to mitigate this potential problem. Higher availability of wind turbines lead to higher annual energy production from the turbine, this research contributes to increasing the availability of the wind turbine by addressing and proposing the overheating solution of the wind turbine generator.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2020

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Sundaram, Kalpathy

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Degree Program

Electrical Engineering

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008039; DP0023179

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0023179

Language

English

Release Date

May 2023

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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