FAILURE ANALYSIS ON HHI MEDIUM VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL ROTATING MACHINE

AT CYPRUS IDE PLANT - VASILIKOS PROJECT

ELECTRICAL MACHINE TECHNICAL DATA:

1. Builder: HHI – Ulsan (South Korea);
2. Manufacturing year: 2010;
3. Type: HRN7 806-28E;
4. Serial Number: 20101312RMH313002;
5. Power: 5,5 [MW];
6. Number of poles: 2;
7. Nominal Voltage: 11,0 [kV];
8. Nominal Current: 331,4 [A];
9. Insulation class: F;
10. Power factor: 0,90;
11. Speed: 2982 [R.P.M.];
12. Number of slots: 48;
13. Number of coils per each pole-phase: 8;
14. Type of winding: double layer;
15. Number of coils: 48;
16. Number of parallel circuits per each phase: 2;
17. Rotor type: squirrel cage;
18. Type of connection: star centre outside with three Current Transformers;
19. Impregnation varnishes type: V.P.I. (vacuum Pressure Impregnating);
20. Starting system: Soft starter with these parameters: In=331 [A]; Ith=4x331 [A] and
Td=30 [s];
21. Bearing type D.E. and N.D.E.: sleeve without oil rings and with oil forced lubricating.

Photo of the electrical machine before disassembly and on the stall.

D.E. SIDE

N.D.E. SIDE

Photo of the electrical machine during disassembly.

Eng. Phd Vito Marzullo (I.P.S. - Italy) 1

HYSTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The HHI electrical machine, above reported, was put into operation, for the first time (after
three years of storage), in April 2013. The HHI electrical machine worked on reduced load
for five hours without mechanical (maximum value of vibration velocity was equal to 1,0
[mm/s–R.M.S.], the bearings temperatures were normal, no noises) and electrical
problems (the values of current readings were balanced on the three phases and non
electrical protection is taken).
During the second start, at the beginning of May 2013, an alarm is tripped the soft starter
system. The IDE technicians, thinking to an error concerning the soft starter system, tried
to reboot the electrical machine, in this case they noticed that it (soft starter system)
tripped at a value of voltage near to 3300 [V]. The IDE technician thought that the problem
concerned the electrical machine. For this reason they disconnected the outside star
centre and the power cable from soft starter, so they made the Resistance of Insulation
and Polarization Index (at 5 [kV] according to IEEE 43 – 2000) for each phase. While the
phases “V” and “W” had very high value of R.I. and P.I., the phase “U” was grounded.

Photo of the box terminal regarding the power cable and the star centre with CTs.

After this kind of electrical measurement, IDE project manager called HHI for an inspection
aimed to understand the causes of that problem and possible solutions.

INSPECTION OF 10/05/2013:
On last Friday (10 May 2013), two I.P.S. technicians, after having received a technical
information about the above reported electrical motor by H.H.I., arrived to IDE plant for the
inspection. Before dismantling, the motor R.I. and P.I. has been measured, and the I.P.S.
technicians confirmed the value reported by IDE technicians, on phase “U” there was an
electrical problem (the phase “U” was grounded, the Megger Instrument wasn’t able to
reach 1 [kV] and at low voltage the maximum value of R.I. was 10 [kΩ]).
The first item was to check the quality of power cables behind the power box, for this
reason the water-air cooler conveyor was removed. Without removing the electrical
machine from the stall, it was possible to observe that behind the power box there weren’t
any problems on the cables (no burnt points, no burrs and no moisture or carbon
residues).
The second item was to check the presence of burnt on the connection at N.D.E. side, for
this reason, without removing the electrical machine from the stall, after dismantling the
sleeve bearing with its cap housing and removing the shield, it was possible to see that no
burnt points were present on the connection and between the coils and the stator core
laminations. After that, I.P.S. technicians suggested to IDE technicians that it was
necessary to leave the electrical motor from the stall aimed to extraction of squirrel cage
rotor from the stator.

Eng. Phd Vito Marzullo (I.P.S. - Italy) 2

 Photo of the N.D.E. side winding connections before and after having left the stall.

After having dismantled the shield from D.E. side, on the end-winding no problems were
found due to the presence of the rotor. Inner machine was very clean and dry.

Photo of the D.E. side end-winding.

After having extract the rotor from the stator, a little puncture was present among the stator
core laminations and the “first” coil of the “first” pole phase “U” after the power cable.
A puncture between rotor core laminations and punching teeth was present, probably like
a consequence of electrical arching due to current flow versus ground.

Eng. Phd Vito Marzullo (I.P.S. - Italy) 3

 FUSIONS ON STATOR
CORE LAMINATIONS

The puncture on the stator core laminations.

ROTOR CORE
LAMINATIONS COPPER
BARS

PUNCHING TEETH
OF ROTOR CORE
LAMINATIONS

The puncture on the rotor core laminations due to the electrical arching.

Eng. Phd Vito Marzullo (I.P.S. - Italy) 4

PROBABLE CAUSES OF THE FAILURE
The possible causes of the “puncture failure” type are two:
1. a weakness point on the insulating of the coil versus ground (ground insulation);
2. an internal weakness point on the insulating among the turns (turn/strand
insulation).
Either the first or the former are causes due to manufacturing problems. In particular the
end slots are the most critical points either for the ground insulation (because during the
winding of the stator the stator end-slots act like a knife for the insulated coils, these ones
are very mechanical weak before VPI treatment) or for the turn insulation (because during
the forming of the coils in these points it’s present a geometrical discontinuity among the
straight and curved part).
I suppose that the cause is the first, because the puncture has interested the first coil of
the first pole phase “U” after the power cable, the first coil is subjected to the greatest
voltage stress versus ground (different from the coils near to star centre).
Anyway either a ground insulation failure or short circuit failure on the coil it degenerates
into a puncture versus the stator core laminations.

REMEDIES
The puncture has generated an internal fusion of the turns. Repairing only the insulating of
the coil, without removing that, it doesn’t guarantee the absence of mergers and short
circuits among turns of the same coil.
It’ necessary to change the coil. Changing the damaged coil means two order of the
considerations:
1. it’s necessary raise all the coils in the preceding step of the damaged coil to remove
(typical situation for a double layer imbricate winding);
2. the winding is very hard to remove due to V.P.I. treatment.
This second consideration takes into account the very high probability that this activity can
generate mechanical stress and consequently problems on short circuits among the turns
of the “step” coils, because mechanical lift systems are required.
Another question focalized its attention on the reliability of the electrical machine, for
example if there are present other weakness point on the same phase or on the other two
phases.
About the very little fusion on stator and rotor core laminations, I think that there aren’t
problems, a simple mechanical removing of the burr parts resolves the problem.
In my opinion the only way to return the machine reliability is rewinding to do in plant
equipped with VPI treatment system.

Eng. Phd Vito Marzullo (I.P.S. - Italy) 5