Design of a Combined Magnetic and Gas Dynamic Bearing for High-Speed Micro-Gas Turbine Power Plants with an Axial Gap Brushless Generator

Abstract

The development of modern energy is moving towards distributed generation, in which numerous sources of different capacities are connected into a single network. This makes it possible to increase the reliability of the entire system, since the probability of the failure of several energy sources at the same time is small. One of the major possibilities of distributed generation is the generation of electric energy based on high-speed gas turbines. The main advantage of these sources are high specific energy indicators, which improve with increasing rotation speed. However, it is technically difficult to realize the advantages of high-speed devices. It is necessary to abandon the step-down gearbox for the generator and directly connect it to a high-speed turbine, use high-strength materials that can withstand the load from centrifugal forces, abandon traditional plain bearings, and use special supports. Installations with generators that have a radial rotor design are the most widespread. The main problem with generators of this type is that the rotor diameter is limited by the mechanical strength from centrifugal forces and the power can be increased only by increasing the axial length. At the same time, only two supports can be used for a radial structure; this leads to a decrease in the rigidity of the shaft and the occurrence of resonant frequencies during acceleration. In addition, radial generators have unreasonably large losses in the stator magnetic circuit, which increase with increasing speed and are difficult to remove from a limited volume. For this reason, radial structures have exhausted their reserves and cannot develop further in the direction of increasing the speed of rotation. This article proposes the design of a high-speed gas turbine installation based on a generator of a fundamentally different design. This is a multi-section generator with an axial air gap. The electric machine has a diamagnetic armature, which eliminates magnetic losses and allows for increased efficiency and simplification of the design. A large number of rotor sections can be used as supports for a gas-dynamic bearing, which greatly increases the rigidity of the structure and eliminates resonant frequencies during acceleration. The main structural difference from existing designs is the use of two types of bearings at the same time: magnetic bearings and gas-dynamic bearings. Magnetic bearings ensure operation at low speeds during acceleration, and gas-dynamic bearings ensure the rotation of the rotor and its rigidity at high speeds. Analysis of developments in this area shows that this solution is innovative. The proposed design required study of both the power part, including the axial inductor and the diamagnetic armature, and the combined support. This article shows the results of the development of a combined suspension and provides calculations of magnetic and gas-dynamic bearings for a gas turbine installation of 100 kW and 70,000 rpm. The results of the study can be applied to a number of gas turbine installations from 10 kW to 500 kW. The authors consider this concept to be competitive with modern analogues that have a radial generator design.