Software aids generator design

The Hydrogenie project is relying on Vector Fields' electromagnetic simulator to design a compact hydroelectric power generator offering up to 99% efficiency.

A Vector Fields simulator is aiding the design of an ultra-efficient superconducting power generator.

The electromagnetic simulator is helping the members of the Hydrogenie project to engineer a compact hydroelectric power generator offering up to 99% efficiency, by exploiting developments in high-temperature superconducting (HTS) materials.

Converteam, EOn Wasserkraft, KEMA, Silesian University of Technology, Stirling Cryogenics and Refrigeration, Trithor and Vector Fields are developing the technology for a 1.25MW generator that will be field tested at the Hirschaid power plant in Germany.

The project is being part funded by the EU.

The hydroelectric generator being designed is a complex rotating machine with 28 poles.

Electromagnetic simulation technology is being exploited to shorten the design cycle and characterise operating behaviour before construction begins.

However, the accurate simulation of such a large dynamic machine in three dimensions would normally require an incredible amount of time and computing power.

Vector Fields has simplified this by producing a version of its well-known Opera electromagnetic simulation tool that exploits the machine's rotational symmetry-and analyses just a segment of the design.

Vector Fields is also helping the designers to generate the initial models that are being investigated during the early stages of the detailed design process.

This approach is bringing the time required for the precision finite element analysis simulation of the machine's dynamics down to a day or so on a standard desktop PC, giving Converteam the means to create virtual prototypes quickly and optimise the design idea.

Vector Fields' Opera tool also supports multi-physics simulation, which can be used to explore how the generator design concept will perform under a range of mechanical load conditions.

"Vector Fields has pioneered the dynamic electromagnetic simulation of rotating electrical machinery, and this project has allowed us to develop the capability of the software to handle machines with a high number of poles", notes Chris Riley, Hydrogenie Project Manager at Vector Fields.

"We're very excited to be part of such an ambitious project which could play a key role in combating climate change".

Improved efficiency of hydroelectric power generation could lead to major benefits for society and the environment.

Hydroelectric power is the largest source of renewable energy, and compared with fossil energy it protects against harmful emissions including greenhouse gases and sulphur dioxide.

In the EU alone, hydropower contributes about a fifth of electricity production - avoiding the emission of some 76 million tonnes of CO2 a year.

Generators based on HTS technology could increase global energy output by around 7%.

This would be equivalent to roughly another 40 conventional power stations, potentially a highly significant contribution to meeting Kyoto Protocol targets.

The combination of HTS power generation and hydropower technologies has not been addressed before, despite its potential.

Hydrogenie's HTS hydro power generator aims to achieve 1.25MW power output, 214rev/min, 99% efficiency under partial load conditions, size and weight savings of 50-70% over conventional technology, with an initial cost that is equivalent to a conventional machine.

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