Estimation of Assist Effects by Additional Permanent Magnets in Salient-Pole Synchronous Generators

The characteristic improvements of salient-pole synchronous generators by inserting additional permanent magnets are investigated from both results of finite-element analyses and experiments. First, the assist effects of the magnets in a megavoltampere-class generator are analyzed by the finite-element method. It is clarified that the additional permanent magnets have the effects of reducing magnetic saturation at the rotor-pole bodies, as well as the effects of increasing the direct flux linkage of armature windings. It is also clarified that the output of the generator can be increased by more than 20% by inserting the magnets without any increase in total machine size and decrease in efficiency. Finally, the characteristic improvements are validated by the experiment of a small prototype generator. The experimental and calculated results are found to be in good agreement.