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A1_102_2010

CIGRE 2010

Development and Production of the Worlds Largest Capacity 2p- 60Hz-670MVA and 4p-60Hz-370MVA Hydrogen-Cooled Turbo-generators for a 60Hz-900MW Cross-Compound Thermal Power Plant H. KATAYAMA, M. KAKIUCHI, D. MURATA, S. NAKAYAMA, H. NAKAMURA, H. ITO Toshiba Corporation JAPAN

SUMMARY
At the request for global environmental harmony and reduction of life cycle cost, authors are developing generators with higher efficiency and larger capacity, having indirectly hydrogen-cooled stator coil, to take place of capacity range in which directly water-cooling has been inevitable up to now. The generator does not use cooling water, then make it possible for saving space and simple layout, and to eliminate the peculiar risk of water-cooled generator such as plugging of stator coil cooling path and water leaks. Further more, the indirectly hydrogen-cooled stator coil does not need to prepare the cooling path area in the cross section, then the indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator potentially realize the higher efficiency. Authors have developed the HTC (High Thermal Conductivity) insulation for stator coil, and applied to indirectly hydrogen-cooled generators since 2000. In 2009, authors developed and manufactured 2p-60Hz-670MVA primary generator and 4p-60Hz-370MVA secondary generator for a 900MW cross compound thermal power plant. The primary generator has the worlds largest capacity as indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator, and both generators have achieved generator efficiency of over 99.1%. Hydrogen gas has less cooling ability than water. In order to enable adoption of indirectly hydrogen-cooling method to 60Hz-670MVA generator, of which capacity range needs directly watercooling method, the technical challenges are extracted and solved, such as balancing between terminal voltage and stator current, optimization of stator and rotor cooling, verification of stator frame, hydrogen gas sealing, and stator coil end support structure. The developed generators were tested according to the standard at the factory in January 2009. Both generators were verified to have the estimated performance and to be satisfied with the specification.

KEYWORDS
Indirectly hydrogen-cooling, HTC (High Thermal Conductivity) stator insulation

hitoshi1.katayama@toshiba.co.jp

1. Introduction
In recent years, global environmental issue demands the reduction of CO2 emission to every activity. The electric power system is also responsible, then efficient apparatus are employed such as combined cycle generation system with gas turbine, of which capacity is increasing. The gas turbine is easy to install and operate, also the generator employed is requested high efficiency and simple structure. In conventional thermal power pant, the efficient USC (Ultra Super Critical) steam turbine is going to be preferred, also the generator employed is requested high efficiency and simple structure. On the basis of these backgrounds, authors are developing generators with higher efficiency and larger capacity, having indirectly hydrogen-cooled stator coil, to take place of capacity range in which directly watercooling has been inevitable up to now. In increasing unit capacity of indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator, improving cooling performance of stator coil is the first point of view. Authors have developed the HTC (High Thermal Conductivity) insulation for stator coil [1], and applied to indirectly hydrogen-cooled generators since 2000. The HTC insulation has twice as high thermal conductivity compared with normal insulation, due to high thermal conductive material applied to the mica insulation layers. Authors applied the HTC insulation to 200MVA class generator at first, which was put into operation in 2001 and has been operated soundly for over 8 years. Since then, authors have developed indirectly hydrogen-cooled generators with larger capacity [2]. In 2009, authors developed and manufactured 2p-60Hz-670MVA primary generator for 900MW cross compound thermal power plant, which has the worlds largest capacity as indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator, and achieved generator efficiency of over 99.1%. In this paper, applied technologies and shop test results are described.

2. Concept of indirectly hydrogen cooled generator

The stator indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator needs neither the stator coil cooling water supplying unit nor its cooling water piping, and make it possible for saving space and simple layout, comparing with stator coil directly water-cooled generator. The generator itself does not use cooling water, then make it possible to eliminate the peculiar risk of water-cooled generator such as plugging of stator coil cooling path and water leaks, and then improves reliability. Further more, the stator coil indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator is composed of only solid conductors, and does not need to prepare the cooling path area in the cross section of the stator coil, then make it possible to secure more cupper conductor area and to reduce current density in the stator coil. So the stator coil indirectly hydrogen-cooled generators potentially realize the higher efficiency. In these points of view, authors conclude that indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator is advantageous to directly water-cooled generator in the life cycle cost, because of lower operation cost including operability and maintainability

3. Design of higher efficiency 2p-60Hz-670MVA generator 3.1 Ratings

Ratings of the developed generator are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Ratings
Capacity (kVA) Speed (min-1) Voltage (V) Current (A) Power factor Short circuit ratio Hydrogen pressure (kPag) Insulation class / Temperature rise Standard Stator coil cooling / Rotor coil cooling 670000 3600 19000 20360 0.9 more than 0.58 520 F class / B rise JEC2130-2000 Indirectly hydrogen-cooled / Directly hydrogen-cooled

3.2 Technical challenges

Since hydrogen gas has less cooling ability than water, the technical challenges shown in Fig.1 are required to enable adoption of indirectly hydrogen-cooling method to 60Hz-670MVA generator, which capacity range needs directly water-cooling method.
<Technical issue> Lower cooling ability Higher temperature rise Reduction of loss Balancing between terminal voltage and stator current Stator coil configuration <Countermeasure> <Applied technologies>

Improvement of cooling ability HTC stator insulation and stator coil configuration Optimised stator and rotor cooling (Higher hydrogen gas pressure) Stator frame and hydrogen gas sealing Appropriate structure against larger thermal expansion Stator coil end support

Fig.1 Challenges and applied technologies

4. Employed technologies 4.1 Balancing between terminal voltage and stator current
From the viewpoint of indirectly-hydrogen cooling, thinner thickness of stator coil ground insulation is preferable. Lower current of a stator bar is preferable from the viewpoint of loss reduction. Multi parallel stator coil connection is applied to reduce terminal voltage and to reduce current of a stator bar. As a result, the terminal voltage and stator current of the developed 60Hz-670MVA generator are 19000V and 20360A though the conventional generator is 22000V and 17583A. Larger surface area is preferable from the viewpoint of heat conduction. Fig.2 shows the stator bar cross section of the developed 60Hz-670MVA generator and a conventional 60Hz-670MVA generator. The conductor cross section area of indirectly hydrogen-cooled stator coil becomes larger than directly water-cooled coil because the indirectly coil is composed of only solid conductors. As a result, resistance loss of stator coil can be reduced.

The developed generator The conventional generator Fig.2 Comparison of stator bar cross section

4.2 HTC stator insulation

Heat generated in indirectly cooled stator bars are transferred through conductors, ground wall insulation, core and cooling gas (Fig.3). In this heat transfer path, thermal conductivity of ground wall insulation is much lower than other components. Then, authors had developed HTC insulation, which has twice as high thermal conductivity as conventional ground insulation and successfully applied to hydrogen-cooled generators since 2000. This HTC insulation system is also applied to the 670MVA and the 370MVA hydrogen-cooled generator for the purpose of higher efficiency. Considering frequently start and stop operation for the above-mentioned generator, 3000 cycles thermal cycle test was performed (Fig. 4) in addition to 1000 cycles thermal cycle test performed previously [1]. The 3000 cycles test condition is the same as the 1000 cycles test, 40C 155C heated by AC current and 600 MVA class model slots. The voltage endurance characteristic after the 3000 cycles test is shown in Fig. 5. Voltage endurance characteristics of fresh bar and test bars after 1000cycles are described additionally. These three HTC insulation bars show equivalent characteristics.

Conductor Heat transfer

2.0

Ground insulation Core

Fig.3 Heat transfer path of stator bar

Fig.4 Thermal cycling test

Electrical stress (p.u.)

1.5

after 3000 cycles

1.0
HTC(0 cycles) HTC(1000 cycles) after 1000 cycles

0.5
HTC(3000 cycles)

0.3 100

101

102

103

104

105

Voltage endurance (hrs.)

Fig.5 Voltage endurance characteristic after 3000 cycles

4.3 Optimized stator and rotor cooling

The hydrogen gas pressure of 520kPag is adopted to enhance cooling ability. The stator duct number and section width of the developed generator are optimized (Fig.6, Fig.7 and Fig.8) to minimize temperature difference along stator bars, which enables to get rid of windage loss due to reduced gas flow. The radial flow cooling system is adopted on the developed generator for effective cooling of rotor and stator coils in order to reduce the windage loss. The area of subslot, radial duct pitch and ventilation path of the core end are optimized (Fig.7 and Fig.9) to minimize temperature difference along the rotor bars. In general, the diagonal flow cooling is more effective than the radial flow cooling system. The radial flow cooling system has the advantage of reduction of windage loss comparing to diagonal flow cooling system, which is generally adopted on larger capacity generator. The radial flow rotor has the advantage to reduce the field copper loss because ventilation holes are smaller than the holes of diagonal flow cooling. The field copper loss can be reduced by adopting radial flow cooling (Fig.10 and Fig.11).
Cooler Cooler
Stator duct

Stator

Gas gap Rotor coil

Rotor Axial Fan

Fig.6 Cooling circuit of radial flow system

Stator Coil Temperature Rise()

Fig.7 Hydrogen gas temperature analysis

Rotor Coil Temperature Rise [K]

Outlet

Inlet

Outlet

Inlet

Outlet

Inlet

Outlet

Core End

Core Center

Fig.8 Calculated stator coil temperature rise

Fig.9 Calculated rotor coil temperature rise

Wedge Creepage block

Rotor coil Slot insulation Cooling gas flow Sub slot

Fig.10 Radial flow cooling rotor

ROTATION

WEDGE CREEPAGE BLOCK

FLUSH INLET SCOOP

TURN INSULATION

INLET REGION

OUTLET REGION

SLOT ARMOR

EXTRUDED COPPER CHANNEL

Fig.11 Diagonal flow cooling rotor

4.4 Stator frame and hydrogen gas sealing

Stator frame and hydrogen gas sealing system are main components to contain the pressurized hydrogen gas in the generator. Stator frame stress and deformation are verified by finite element method (FEM) analysis. Fig.12 shows a result of the FEM stress analysis. Applied pressure is 800kPag according to IEC60034-3. Stresses in all parts of stator frame and bearing brackets are less than a half of permitted values in accordance with EN13445-3. For the hydrogen gas sealing, the same sealing system was adopted with experienced 520kPag generator.
high

low

Fig.12 Stress analysis of stator frame

4.5 Stator coil end support

Thermal expansion and electromagnetic force of the developed generator are larger than experienced hydrogen-cooled generator. The electromagnetic force is equivalent to experienced watercooled generator. The end winding support system (Fig.13) normally applied on water-cooled generator is adopted to the developed generator. This system allows thermal expansion by axial sliding system. In order to confirm the coil end vibration characteristics, bump test is performed in the process of manufacturing.
Sliding Pin Support Bracket Stator Coil Nose Ring

Support Brackets Bearing Pad Sliding Directions Sliding Pin

Binding Ring Permanent Ring Binding Ring Support

Axial Sliding System

Stator Core

Stator Core Flange

Fig.13 Axial sliding coil end support system

5. Results of factory test

The developed generator was tested at the factory in January 2009. Fig.14 shows the generator while testing. The results of factory test are described below.

Fig.14 Generator on the testing bed

5.1 Characteristics
No load saturation curve and short circuit characteristic curve were measured. Field currents at no load rated voltage and short circuit rated current were within 5% separation from the design values. Short circuit ratio was satisfied with the specification of more than 0.58.

5.2 Losses and efficiency

Losses are measured and efficiency is calculated according to JEC2130, which is corresponding to IEC60034. Fig.15 shows the comparison of the developed generator and conventional (stator watercooled, rotor diagonal flow) generator, which has same capacity. The conductor cross section area of indirectly-cooling stator coil becomes larger than directly cooled coil because the indirectly cooled coil is composed of only solid conductors. The radial flow rotor has the advantage to reduce the field copper loss because ventilation holes are smaller than the holes of diagonal flow cooling. As a result, resistance loss of stator and rotor can be reduced. Calculated efficiency is more than 99.1% and is higher by over 0.2% than conventional generators.

Resistance loss of rotor Resistance loss of stator Stray load loss Core loss Windage loss Friction loss Excitation system loss
0

Developed generator

Conventional generator

Fig.15 Comparison of losses

5.3 Temperatures
The temperature of stator coils, rotor coils, and the stator core were measured during heat-run tests. The difference of measured temperature and calculated temperature of each part was less than several Kelvin. The temperature rises of each part at rated condition were confirmed to meet the values regulated in standard.

5.4 Vibration
Rotor vibration was observed at each bearing portion, including over-speed test. Low vibration amplitude and high stability were confirmed overall range of rotating speeds.

5.5 Bump test

Bump test was performed on stator coil end. The results confirmed that there were no harmful responses around resonance frequencies.

6. Comparison of improved and conventional generator

Both improved and conventional generators are compared concerning dimension, weight and efficiency. Although the improved generator dimensions and total weights were increased by approximately 10 % compared to conventional one, the efficiency was remarkably improved from 98.9 % to 99.1 % by 0.2 % (Table 2). According to experimental calculation, the efficiency increase saves the CO2 emission by 12000 ton/year and the coal consumption by 4700 ton/year at the abovementioned 900MW cross compound coal thermal power plant [3]. Table 2 Comparison of improved and conventional generator
Developed generator Length Width Height Stator weight Rotor weight Total weight Efficiency p.u. p.u. p.u. p.u. p.u. p.u. % 670MVA 1.02 1.13 1.01 1.08 1.06 1.08 99.1 Conventional generator 670MVA 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 98.9

In these points of view, indirectly hydrogen-cooled generators have the advantages over directly water-cooled generators in the life cycle cost, because of lower operation cost including operability and maintainability.

7. Conclusion
At the request for global environmental harmony and reduction of life cycle cost, authors developed and manufactured 2p-60Hz-670MVA indirectly hydrogen-cooled primary generator that has the world largest capacity, and delivered to 900MW cross compound thermal power plant with 4p-60Hz370MVA secondary generator. Applied technologies are verified by analyses, tests and experiences in other many projects. The efficiencies of both generators are over 99.1% and authors believe that the efficiency will meet all customers demands. However, further improvement will be possible in capacity and efficiency of indirectly hydrogen-cooled generator near future. Authors will pursue these improvements and provide high performance generators for the world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] [2] Working Group SC 11-01 CIGRE. Impacts on turbine generator design by the application of increased thermal conducting stator insulation (2002) Working Group SC 11-01 CIGRE. The worlds largest capacity turbine generators with indirect hydrogen-cooling (2004)

[3]

H.Tomiki et. al., 60Hz Large Capacity Indirectly Hydrogen-Cooled Generator, Toshiba Review Feb. 2010 7