Thermal Analysis of 10-MW-Class Wind Turbine HTS Synchronous Generator

Abstract

In this paper, the thermal performance of a 10-MW-class wind turbine-based high-temperature superconducting (HTS) synchronous generator is studied. The proposed generator is designed and modeled through a finite-element method (FEM), and the generator losses, including iron losses and electrical losses, are obtained. As the output power substantially depends on thermal rising of the generator, heat transfer analysis of the proposed HTS generator is carried out using both lumped parameters network (LPN) and FEM analysis. Then, temperature distribution of the components of the machine is evaluated and discussed for different generator speeds. The proper temperature distribution guarantees the desirable operation of the generator. This paper shows that it is feasible to design a 10-MW-class HTS synchronous generator from thermal analysis point of view.