Performance Analysis of Non-Overlap Winding Technologies of a Large Wound Rotor Synchronous Generator for Wind Energy Conversion

Non-overlap windings present an attractive option to reduce production costs of electrical machines, amongst others. However, it is well-known that these windings have a high amount of magnetomotive force (MMF) harmonic content that negatively affects machine performance, especially in terms of torque ripple. For wind energy conversion systems (WECS), low torque ripple is a stringent requirement. This study is on the performance analysis of various winding configurations of a non-overlap winding 3 MW 16/18 pole/slot wound rotor synchronous generator for WECS. The winding configurations considered provide improved machine performance in comparison with a conventional non-overlap winding. Finite element analysis is used to theoretically predict the performance of the winding configurations and conduct a comparative study.