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Application of The EL CID Test
Application of The EL CID Test
John Sutton
Consultant to ADWEL International Ltd
Abstract
EL CID tests are carried out to determine the integrity of the inter-lamination insulation in large
stator cores. For the test the stator is excited by a winding that produces a circumferential magnetic
flux around the core, and the EL CID test equipment analyses the resultant in-phase and
quadrature magnetic potential difference values between adjacent stator teeth. The PHASE values
are normally fairly constant around the core, but occasionally there are large and unexpected
fluctuations in these values. It has been generally assumed that currents do not flow in the stator
winding during EL CID tests and thus there was no satisfactory explanation of the large variations.
This paper reports on tests on a smaller turbo-generator and on a large hydro-generator, where
in both tests very large variations in the PHASE values were measured. By analysing the presumed
currents in the specific winding configuration, and in one test comparing to the same core without a
winding, it is shown conclusively that in both tests the effect was caused by circulating currents
induced in the stator winding by the EL CID excitation winding.
It is also shown that circulating currents do not adversely affect the uniformity of flux around the
core, and that their effect on test results is eliminated by a simple analysis method. Thus circulating
currents do not affect the efficacy of the EL CID test.
1. Introduction
The stator cores of ac electrical machines are built
of thin laminations of magnetic steel, which are each
coated with a thin layer of electrical insulation to
prevent currents flowing between the laminations. If
the insulation is damaged, the alternating magnetic
flux through the stator core can cause eddy currents
to flow between laminations (see Fig.1), leading to
localised heating in the stator core and possible
major breakdown.
It is thus important that the inter-lamination
insulation remains intact in manufacture and service,
and this requirement is well known to those involved
in generator design and maintenance.
129
Fig 4
C e ntre E xcitatio n
S id e E x c itatio n
2 .5
2
PHASE mpd (A)
1 .5
1
0 .5
53
49
45
41
37
33
29
25
21
17
13
0
1
-0.5
-1
S lo t N o
53
49
45
41
37
33
29
25
21
17
13
This shows by arrows where a phase current flows either up or down the slot, with one or
two arrows indicating the number of bars carrying the current. For each phase (U, V, W), there are 8
slots that carry only the same winding in the same direction.
Average PHASE
0.96A
Applying the hypothesis that currents are circulating between the
m.p.d.
3 phases, using the earth bonds as common points, the average
Phase U
-0.11A
PHASE m.p.d. around the whole core was evaluated, and from
Phase V
-0.64A
this the currents flowing in each of the three phases were
Phase W
0.75A
deduced, as shown in Table 1. It should be noted that the Table 1 PHASE m.p.d and
predicted winding
circulating currents sum to zero as expected, and that the average
currents.
PHASE m.p.d. across the slots agrees with the test parameters
(Iw /N = 8.5A x 6 turns / 54 slots = 0.94A).
The predicted PHASE m.p.d was plotted and
S ide Excitatio n
3
P redicted Phase mpd
compared with the measurements in Fig 5. The
2.5
good agreement for the 8 slots per phase where
2
the currents were deduced is, of course, to be
1.5
expected. However, Fig. 5 also shows that the
1
PHASE m.p.d. is closely predicted for all other
slots. This demonstrates that the hypothesis, that
0.5
the effect is caused by circulating currents, is
0
valid.
-0.5
Another rigorous experimental and theoretical
-1
study [Otaka et. al. 2004] also showed that
Slot No
currents can be induced in a large turbogenerator Fig.5 Predicted variations in the PHASE m.p.d. across
stator winding if the EL CID excitation winding
slots in a turbo-generator from winding currents.
is not installed through the centre of the stator
bore, and that these currents are minimised if the excitation winding is correctly positioned.
5. Effect on a Hydro-generator
Circulating currents in stator windings are more likely in hydro-generators because parallel
windings are very common, and because it is not so straightforward to install the excitation through
the centre of the bore. If, as is often the case, the windings are wound close to the bore at a few
positions around the core, circulating currents may be induced in the stator winding. Circulating
130
Fig. 6
Average PHASE m.p.d. measured across the slots of a hydro-generator with the stator winding installed.
300
Splits in Core
100
0
0
35
70
105
140
175
210
245
-100
No Stator Winding
Stator Winding Installed
-200
-300
Slot Number
Fig. 7
Average QUAD m.p.d. across slots before and after winding installed (only slots 1 to 253 computed).
131
Fig. 8
The coloured boxes show the phase/parallel and connection direction, with common phase slots
highlighted. The blue points show the measured values and the dotted line the predicted values.
From Fig. 8 it can be seen that for every parallel section of the winding there is always a pair of
common slots in which both the top and bottom bars carry the same current in the same direction.
These common slots are marked by small coloured boxes above the main boxes in Fig. 8 and they
provide a means of determining the circulating currents. Since the currents in all sections of the
stator winding can be determined by measurements on the common slots, the change in m.p.d. for
the other slots can be predicted by vector addition of the currents flowing in the two bars in each
slot. The m.p.d. shown in Fig. 8 are the changes in values caused by the presence of the winding
and hence, according to our hypothesis, produced by currents circulating in the windings. Hence
the total current flowing in each of the common slots is equal to the (change in) m.p.d. across that
slot and the current in each conductor bar is 50% of the total current. These currents are printed in
the boxes in Fig. 8, for the common, and other, slots. The predicted m.p.d, being the vector sum of
the currents in the two bars in each slot, are shown by the dotted black line in Fig. 8. This line is
seen to be close to the measured m.p.d. (blue circles) for all the slots. Hence the analysis of the data
in Fig. 8 confirms the hypothesis that the variation in the PHASE m.p.d. across slots was solely
caused by circulating currents induced in the stator winding by the EL CID excitation winding.
Further proof that currents were induced in the stator winding was provided by bending a
Chattock potentiometer around some of the bars where they emerged from the slots and so
obtaining a rough measure of currents flowing through them. The measured currents ranged from
200mA to 600mA, consistent with the values determined by the above analysis.
The uniformity of the flux in this core was confirmed by measuring the voltage induced in a
single turn of wire around the core close to a gap and then near to the centre of a sector. The voltage
induced in the turn, and hence the flux in the core, was virtually identical at the two positions.
132
Fig. 9
QUAD m.d.p. for four slots of a Hydro-generator with no winding (red traces) and with its winding (black
traces) which was carrying large circulating currents.
However, it is recommended to arrange the test and excitation to minimise circulating currents as
far as possible, for the following reasons:
o It is good practice to reduce disturbing noise in any measurement system to maximise the
signal quality and integrity.
o Local high amplitude PHASE m.p.d. may cause the EL CID signal to over-range
unexpectedly. Use of a higher current range will reduce the sensitivity to all signals.
o It is more difficult to reliably set the phase of EL CIDs Phase Sensitive Detector (Phase
Reset).
o It is not possible to observe true QUAD signals during a test, since offsets can only be
eliminated after the test.
133
134