Design of a Stainless Core Submersible Permanent Magnet Generator for Tidal Energy

A novel stainless core and submersible permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) for tidal energy is investigated in this paper. The materials to be used must be resistant to marine environments. Therefore, there are two alternatives: using stainless magnetic materials and non-corrosion resistant materials can be used by protecting them by coating. The two alternatives are studied. Non-isotropic stator teeth width are investigated. This type of asymmetry consists of varying the distance of the slots of the same phase, keeping the slot width constant. This is achieved since each group of slots of the same phase are in parallel. Therefore, by modifying the arrangement of the stator slots, the magnetic circuit is modified, which allows adjusting the electrical parameters of the generator without changing its size. A hysteresis torque analysis is presented due to the magnetic materials used. A 1.7 kW, 80 rpm, prototype machine with 24 slots and 20 poles is proposed. Simulations by FEA are presented.