Reduction in distortion of the synchronous generator voltage waveform using a new winding pattern

Abstract

Sinusoidal voltage waveform in synchronous generators is of great significance in power systems. Generally speaking, the output voltage of a synchronous generator is semi-sinusoidal including some disturbance frequencies (known as harmonics) rather than the fundamental frequency. The harmonic contents cause them to increase in iron loss and reduction in efficiency of electrical machines. For this reason, the harmonic contents of synchronous generators should be carefully taken into consideration. In this study, a new winding pattern for stator of the synchronous generators is proposed to eliminate the harmonic contents of output voltage and so makes it more sinusoidal. In this method, the harmonic contents of output voltage are almost eliminated by selecting the optimal number of conductors per slot. Afterward, through several analytical and simulation studies the suggested winding pattern is compared with those of conventional ones. Moreover, the experimental setup is carried out based on a 3 kW, 1500 RPM synchronous generator. The conventional and proposed winding patterns are separately tested in this setup, and then the harmonic-based behaviour of output voltage is studied for each case under different load conditions. The obtained results prove the superiority of the proposed winding pattern over the conventional patterns.