Parallel Contactless Transmission of Power and Rotor Temperature of Electrical Machines via Magnetically-Coupled Resonance and Capacitive Radio Frequency

Over-temperature of the rotor may cause a series of insulation deterioration of electrical machines. In severe cases, it can lead to insulation failure and even faults, such as broken rotor bars and end ring fracture. The temperature online monitoring can effectively avoid the aforementioned insulation failure; however, the conventional temperature measurement by embedded sensors is difficult to utilize due to the power and data transmission of sensors at the rotor side. This paper proposes a contactless strategy to supply power and send rotor temperature data between the stator and rotor sides of electrical machines. With the proposed method, contactless power transfer is realized by means of magnetically-coupled resonance, while the data signal is transferred by capacitive radio frequency (RF) technology. An experimental prototype was developed and installed on a 22-kW induction motor. The results show that the embedded sensors are contactless powered effectively. At the same time clear temperature data signal can be received on the stator side without filtering, and rotor temperature can be monitored in real-time accurately.