HWANGE POWER STATION

February 2023 REPORT

01-28 February 2023

Dennis Tavonga Muzila

GRADUATE TRAINEE- ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Trainee: ____________________________ Date: __________________

Supervisor__________________________ Date: ___________________

Introduction
This report outlines the activities carried out by the trainee in the month of February 2023 in
electrical maintenance department turbines and explains key learning points.

Activities carried out and key learning points

 offload brush gear maintenance unit six

 Motor starters

 Unit one extraction pump motor six monthly preventive maintenance

 380V 3B seal air fan switchgear wiring

Offload brush gear maintenance unit six

The generator excitation system is used for terminal voltage control by use of the automatic
voltage regulator that calculates the firing angles and feeds it to the static thyristors. Trainee
had the opportunity to do offload brush gear on unit six since which was out due to a tube leak.
Trainee had to remove the brush holder under the supervision of a competent person, cleaned
the brushes thoroughly with compressed air, inspected the brushes for uneven wear, measured
the length of brushes and replaced brushes two had a length below 45mm. The following results
were obtained

Stator side length (mm) Exciter side length(mm)

Brush Inner Outer Inner Outer

number
1 66 65 59 56
2 62 70 50 94
3 40 54 81 57
4 60 72 86 55
5 75 75 60 47
6 76 76 90 75
7 76 76 50 92
8 70 75 83 70
9 80 80 85 68
Trainee also measured pedestal insulation resistance and the following were obtained

a) 18MΩ bottom to earth

b) 18.4 MΩ top to earth

The earth strip resistance was also checked and it was satisfactory, it prevents leakages currents
to pass through to the white metal bearing by providing a pathway that allows easy flow of
current from faulty electrical appliances to the ground.

Motor Starters

A starter is an electrical device which controls the electrical power for starting a motor. These
electrical devices are also used for the purpose of stopping, reversing and protecting electric
motors. The following are the two major components of a starter:

1. Contactor: The main function of the contactor is to control the electric current to the motor.
A contactor can make or break power to the circuit.
2. Overload Relay: Overheating and drawing too much current can cause the motor to burn
out and become practically useless. Overload relays prevent this from happening and
protect the motor from any potential danger.
A starter is an assembly of these two components, which allows it to turn on or off an electric
motor or motor controlled electrical equipment. There are two types of starters which are
manual starters and magnetic starters. Manual starters are devices that are operated manually
The starter includes a button (or rotary knob) which enables a user to turn the connected
equipment on or off. The buttons feature mechanical linkages, which make the contacts open
or close, starting or stopping the motor.
Magnetic starter is the other main type of motor starter. It is operated electromagnetically. It
means that the motor load connected to the motor starter is typically started and stopped using
a lower and safer voltage than the motor voltage. Just like other motor starters, the magnetic
starter also has an electrical contactor and overload relay to protect the device from too much
current or overheating.
There are two circuits in a motor starter, which are as follows:
1. Power Circuit:
The power circuit connects the line to the motor. It provides transmission of electricity through
the starter contacts, overload relay, and then to the motor. The motor current is carried by the
power (main) contacts of the contactor.
2. Control Circuit:
This is the other motor starter circuit, which operates the contactor to turn it on or off. The
contactor main contacts are responsible for allowing or interrupting the flow of current to the
motor. To do this, the contacts in the control circuit are either opened or closed. The control
circuit energizes the contactor coil, which creates an electromagnetic field. The power contacts
are pulled by this electromagnetic field to a closed position. There are two main magnetic
starters that are used at HPS which are direct online starter and star delta starter.
Direct online starter

The direct-on-line starter is the simplest form of motor starter, other than a manual starter. The
controller of this starter is typically a simple push button (but could be a selector switch, limit
switch, float switch, etc.). Pressing the start button closes the contactor (by energizing the
contactor coil) connected to the main supply and motor. This provides the supply current to the
motor. To turn the motor off, a stop button is provided. To protect it from over current, the
control circuit is wired through a normally closed auxiliary contact of the overload relay. When
the overload relay trips, the normally closed auxiliary contact opens, and de-energizes the
contactor coil, and the contactor main contacts open.

Star Delta Starter

Compared to the other types of starters, the star delta starter is used on a large scale. As the
name suggests, the three windings are connected in a star connection in the star delta starters.
A certain time is set by the timer or any other controller circuit. After this time is passed, the
windings are then connected in the delta connection. The phase voltage in the star connection
is reduced to 58%, and the total current drawn is 58% of normal current. This results in a
reduced torque.
Unit one extraction pump motor six monthly preventive maintenance
Trainee was part of the team that did preventive maintenance and the following results were
obtained
Terminal box inspection Ok
Motor current 60.5A
IR across B-E 8GΩ
IR across Y-E 18GΩ
IR across R-E 14GΩ
Winding balance R-Y 2Ω
Winding balance R-B 2Ω
Winding balance B-Y 2Ω
Stroke check valves Ok

380V 3B seal air fan switchgear wiring

Trainee was part of the team that went to investigate on what had transpired on unit three 3B
which had an arc flash when the unit was on return to service. Found out that the the incomer
supply cables were totally burnt, switchgear had accumulated a lot of pulverized fuel inside it
and all the fuses had blown out. It was discovered that the power cables were in contact with
the racking metal unit underneath, so it had worn out and a phase to earth developed. Trainee
took part in wiring another switchgear to replace the one that had flashed and took part in light
run test to avail the switchgear and seal air fan motor was left in service.

Recommendations
After the investigations were carried out trainee observed that the switchgear had a lot of
pulverized fuel which had accumulated inside it and the trainee recommends that on pms the
switchgears must be done consistently and thorough cleaning must be done and also enough
clearance should be left between the power cables and the racking metal. Unit three auxiliary
boards are old and there is need to upgrade the boards like what was done on the other units.