Reactive power characteristics and vibration properties under SISC in synchronous condensers

Abstract

A stator interturn short-circuit (SISC) fault in synchronous condensers can bring about serious damage if the fault is not detected in time. At present, researches on SISC fault characteristics and diagnosis methods are still scarce because only in recent years are synchronous condensers adopted in power grids. Different from previous studies, this paper considers the practical operation condition of synchronous condensers that need to change exciting current frequently and work in either under-excitation or over-excitation according to the actual demand of power grids. Detailed reactive power and unbalanced magnetic pull (UMP) expressions under SISC are deduced firstly based on the analysis of the magnetic flux density variation. It can be seen that the reactive power increases under under-excitation running and decreases under over-excitation running after SISC. The second, fourth and sixth harmonics of stator UMP/vibration are enlarged under the SISC. Specifically, the sixth harmonic augments with the increase of exciting current in the over-excitation running, while the variation of the sixth harmonic with exciting current depends on parameters and fault degree of synchronous condensers under the under-excitation operation. Moreover, the two-dimensional finite-element analysis (FEA) and experimental tests are performed on a customized synchronous machine. In addition, the FEA of a TTS-300-2 synchronous condenser is accomplished in order to validate the proposed theoretical analysis further. The research conclusions of fault characteristics in this paper provide potential solutions for the monitoring and diagnosis of SISC in synchronous condensers.