An 18 slot, 8-pole Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator for Small-Scale Wind Turbine Energy Conversion: Design, Fabrication, and Experiments

Abstract

Compact permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs) for renewable energy conversion are required for remote areas. In this work, an 18-slot, 8-pole PMSG (18S8P PMSG) was designed and fabricated for small-scale wind turbine energy conversion. Finite element analysis was conducted to assess the magnetic flux density distribution of the 18S8P PMSG prototype. The simulation results showed that most of the magnetic flux values were within 0.4–1.5 T, which was well below the saturation level for 35JN360 material. The magnetic flux intensities of the stator and rotor cores were within the optimal magnetic permeability range of the 35JN360 material. There were seven steps involved in fabricating the 18S8P PMSG prototype: (1) material cutting, (2) burring, (3) stacking, (4) welding, (5) coil winding, (6) configuration wiring, and (7) assembling. The electromagnetic performance results showed that the back electromotive force voltage of the 18S8P PMSG prototype seemed to be proportional to the rotor speed, where KE was 0.52 V·s/rad. The no load torque maximum of 18S8P PMSG is 1.7 N.m at 5000 rpm. The mechanical performance results showed that the highest power output (2500 W) was obtained for the 18S8P PMSG prototype at a rotor speed of 5000 rpm using the 20-Ω load model. The maximum efficiency of this prototype was 85.4%.