EffectofGeometricalArrangementofStatorVentilationChannelsonAir

FlowLossesinaHydroGeneratorModel
HamedJamshidi1andHkanNilsson1
DepartmentofAppliedMechanics,ChalmersUniversityofTechnology,Gothenburg,Sweden
Email:hamed.jamshidi@chalmers.se
1

Abstract.An important constraint in the design of a generator is the temperature rise of its components, especially the
insulations. The most common method of limiting the temperature rise is to guide a cooling air flow through the
machine, without inhibiting the electrical design. This results in complicated air flow paths in the rotating and
stationary components, which does not give ideal flow conditions and does not guarantee a sufficient flow in the most
important regions. Inthisworktheflowofcoolingairisstudiedinanaxiallycooledgeneratormodel,withaone
sidedinletatthetop.Thepressuredropandflowdistributioninsidethestatorventilationchannelsareanalysedboth
experimentallyandnumerically.Threedifferentgeometricalarrangementsofstatorchannelsareconsidered.PIVis
appliedtorevealthedetailsoftheflowinsidethestatorchannels.Thestatorchanneloutlettotalpressureandvelocity
distributionsarealsomeasured.SteadystateCFDsimulationsareperformed,basedonthemultiplerotatingreference
framesmethod.Therotorstatorcouplingishandledbythemixingplaneapproach,andturbulenceismodelledusing
theLaunderSharma k , v 2f and k SST lowReynoldsturbulencemodels.Thenumericalresults
arevalidatedwiththetimeaveragedexperimentaldata.Itisfoundthattheflowrate increases from the top row of
stator channels to the bottom ones, due to an axial increase of the inter-polar and air gap static pressure.
1.Introduction
Adetailedknowledgeoftheflowofcoolingairisessentialforaneffectivedesignofthecoolingsystemsforelectric
generators.Electricgeneratorsconverttherotationalmechanicalpoweroftheprimemoverintoelectricpower.A
generatorcanhaveaprincipallyaxialorradialventilationsystem.Intheaxialalternativetheairismainlydrivenby
fanbladesattachedattheextremitiesoftherotor.Theairflowsaxiallythroughtherotorstatorairgapbeforeentering
thestatorventilationchannels.Inthecaseofradialcoolingtherotorisalsousedasaradialfan.Theairflowsradially
throughductsintherotor,intotherotorstatorairgapandthenthroughthestatorchannels[1,2].
Themajorsourcesofenergylossesingeneratorsarecopperlossesinthewindings,ironlossesinthecore,and
mechanical losses. The mechanical losses include windage loss due to the ventilation flow, and friction loss in
bearingsandbrushes[2].Thewindagelossiscausedbythefrictionalandpressuredragoftheventilationflowin
generator[3].Itisaffectedbythepropertiesoftheworkingfluid,themachinegeometry,andtheventilationflow
characteristics.Alltheselosseseventuallyleadtoaheatingofthemachine,whichmustbecontrolledandlimitedby
thecoolingsystem.
Themaingoalofthepresentstudyistoprovideadetailedandvalidatedanalysisoftheventilationflowlossesand
distributionsinarealisticelectricgeneratormodel,withdifferentgeometricalarrangementofstatorchannels.Thisis
achieved by a combination of experimental and numerical investigations. A better understanding of the flow
characteristicsingeneratorscanprovideguidelinesonhowtoimprovetheventilation[4,5].Themodelisspecifically
designedforthepurposeofventilationstudies,bothintermsofCFDrequirementsandexperimentalaccess.The
experimental results are derived using a total pressure rake, static pressure taps, hotwire and particle image
velocimetry.Steadystatesimulationsareperformedusingthemultiplerotatingreferenceframesmethod,andthe
rotorstatorinteractionishandledwithmixingplaneapproach.TurbulenceismodelledusingtheLaunderSharma
k , v 2f and k SST lowReynoldsturbulencemodels.Theexperimentalresultsarealsousedto
validatethenumericalresults.

2.GeometrySpecifications
Figure1presentsthegeneratormodeltestrig,whichincludesanintakesection,afan,arotor,andastator.The
generatormodelhasarotorwith12polesthatareconnectedtoeachotherbytwosupports.Aradialimpellerfanwith
12bladesisattachedtothetopoftherotor.Therotorandfanrotateinthecounterclockwisedirection,lookingfrom
above. The air flow is driven exclusively by the rotation of the rotor with its corotating fan. The stator that
encompassestherotorhas4rowsofventilationchannels.Eachrowincludes108ventilationchannels,separatedby
spacers.Threestatorswithdifferentspacershapesareusedinthisstudy.Thestatorheightis0.175m.Therotortip
radius and the stator inner and outer radii are 0.178, 0.1825 and 0.219m, respectively. The height of the stator
ventilationchannelsis4.7mm.Therotationalspeedoftherotoris2000rpmforallthetests,whichresultsinarotortip
velocity(Utip)of37m/s.Theairentersthegeneratormodelthroughthefanatthetop.Thefanchangestheaxially
incomingflowtoaradialflowabovetherotor.Aftertheaxialflowintheairgapandinterpolarspace,theflowleaves
themachineradiallythroughthestatorchannels.Thebottomisclosedsothatalltheairflowmustgooutthroughthe
statorchannels.
3.NumericalModelling
ThenumericalsimulationsofthegeneratormodelareperformedusingtheFOAMextendCFDtool,andthesteady
statemultiplereferenceframeconcept.Inthisconceptthenumericalgeometryisdividedintorotorandstatorzones.
Therotorstatorinteractionbetweentherotatingandstationaryregionsishandledbyamixingplane.Themixing
planeapproachcircumferentiallyaveragestheflowparametersataninterfacebetweentherotatingandstationary
regionsandappliesthosevaluesattheadjacentinterface.Therelativepositionbetweentherotatingandstationary
partsisthusnottakenintoaccountinthemixingplaneapproach.
AlowReynoldsnumberturbulencemodelisinthepresentcaserequiredformodelingtheeffectsofturbulence[7].

Figure1Generatormodel.(1)IntakeSection;(2)Stator;(3)Rotor;(4)Fan.

Thatisduetotherelativelylowvelocitiesandsmalldimensionsinthestatorchannels,whichpreventstheusageof
wallfunctions and requires an integration of the boundary layers to the wall. The LaunderSharma k ,
v 2f and k SST turbulencemodelsareusedinthepresentstudy,andthewally +valuesarekeptatabout
1inallcases.AblockstructuredmeshisgeneratedusingtheANSYSICEMCFDmeshgenerator,coveringa1/12 th
sectorofgeneratorinthetangentialdirectionintherotorzone.Thissectorincludesonerotorpoleandonefanblade
passage.Inthestatorzonethenumericalmodelincludesonechannelineachrow.Cyclicboundaryconditionsare
employedatthesidesofthecomputationaldomain.
4.Experiments
Theexperimentalrigisexclusivelydesignedandmanufacturedfordetailedmeasurementsoftheflowofcoolingair,
andisinparticularadaptedforparticleimagevelocimetry[6,7].Thegeometriesoftherotorandstatoraredesignedto
facilitateahighexperimentalaccuracyandprecision,andforaccurateCFDresults.Theexperimentalpartofthiswork
includes flow rate and turbulence intensity measurements at the inlet of the fan, total pressure and velocity
measurementsattheoutletofthestatorchannels,staticpressuremeasurementsattheinnerwallofthestatorand
velocitymeasurementsinsidethestatorchannels.Theresultsanddiscussionspresentedinthisextendedabstractis
focusingonnumericalresultsthatareexperimentallysupported.

(a) Statorwithstraightradialspacers

(b) Statorwithcurvedspacers

Conductor

Spacer

(c) Statorwithspacersextendedtothechannelinlet
Figure2NumericalResultsforRadialvelocityfieldinthemiddleplaneofthe1strowstatorchannelsinthethreestators

5.Results
Figure2showsthenumericalradialvelocitiesinahorizontalplanepassingthroughthemiddleofthefirstrow
channelsinthethreedifferentstatorconfigurations.Figure2(a)showsthestatorwithstraightspacers.Theflow
passingatthetwosidesoftheconductorisinthiscaseunevenandmostoftheflowtendtopassthroughonesideof
theconductor(thelowerpartaccordingtofigure2(a)).Anunevenflowdistributionintheventilationchannelscan
causenonuniformcoolingandthermalexpansionwhichdecreasethemachinelifetime.Thereisalargerecirculation
zoneatthebackofconductor.Theflowdistributionbetweenthetwosidesoftheconductorisslightlymoreevenwith
curved spacers compareto thecasewith straight spacers, figure 2(b). Figure 2(c) shows the stator withspacers
extendedtothechannelinlet.Theleadingedgeofthesespacersarecurvedtobetteralignwiththeflowdirectionand
toguidetheflowintothechannels.Thisleadingedgeshape,referredtoaspickupmakestheflowmoreevenand
reducesthesizeoftherecirculationregionbehindtheconductor.Thepickupeliminatestheinletseparationfromthe
conductorthatexistintheothertwocases,whichleadstoalowerpressuredrop.TheexperimentalPIVresultsofthe
velocityinsidethechannelssupporttheabovediscussion.
Figure3showshowthetotalflowrate,Q Total,isdistributedbetweenthestatorchannelrowsinthenumerical
results.Theflowisdistributedquiteevenlybetweentherows,withatendencytoincreasefromthe1strowtothe4th
row.Considering an analogy to a typical air duct system, the air entering a stator channel row is separated from the
main flow. The remaining air will expand to fill the cross-section, which results in an interchange of kinetic energy to
static pressure energy. This cumulative static pressure rise will cause the flow rate in the stator channels to increase as
the air progresses downwards. The pressure caused by the fan and the rotor poles, acting as a crude centrifugal fan, is
also superimposed. The experimental flow channel row flow rates, determined from velocity measurements at the
channel outlets, support the above discussion.

0.3

0.2
Q/QTotalPick-up

Straight

Curved

0.1

1st Row

2nd Row

3rd Row

4th Row

Figure3Flowratedistributionbetweendifferentrowsofventilationchannels.

6.Conclusions
Theflowfieldattributesofageneratormodelareinvestigatedbothexperimentallyandnumerically.Theflowisnot
uniformlydistributedbetweenthechannelrows,andinsideeachchannel.The position of the spacers relative to the air
gap, and their shape, considerably influence the flow distribution in the channels and the pressure drop, even to the
extent of causing recirculation and separation. Spacers with pick-up give the most even flow distribution and lowest
pressure drop. The pressure in the air gap increases along the axis, which leads to an increase of flow rate from the 1 st
row to the 4th row.
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