Wind Turbine Generator Stator Cooling via Segmented Lamination Ducts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern wind turbine generators experience increased power losses and heat production due to rising nominal power, necessitating enhanced cooling performance.
Innovation Solution
A generator design featuring stacked lamination sheets with strategically positioned through-openings and fluid connections that form cooling ducts, allowing for efficient heat transfer and reduced pressure loss while maintaining magnetic flux integrity, thereby enhancing cooling performance and mechanical stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the nominal power of the wind turbine generator is increased, then the power output is improved, but the heat production and power losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The stator is divided into multiple lamination sheets stacked together, with cooling ducts formed by through-openings in alternating lamination sheets. This segmentation allows cooling fluid to flow through multiple channels, increasing the cooling surface area and improving heat dissipation efficiency in high-power generators
2Temperature
If cooling ducts are added to the stator, then the cooling performance is improved, but the magnetic flux is weakened
Solution Approach 1:
Through-openings are strategically positioned in specific regions of the lamination sheets rather than uniformly distributed. The cooling ducts are located in areas where they provide effective cooling without significantly interfering with the main magnetic flux paths, thus balancing cooling performance and magnetic flux integrity
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling ducts are formed in the axial direction by stacking lamination sheets with alternating through-openings, creating a three-dimensional cooling network. This allows cooling fluid to flow through multiple axial layers, significantly increasing the cooling surface area without requiring large radial or circumferential openings that would weaken the magnetic flux
3Temperature
If through-openings are created in lamination sheets, then the cooling surface area is increased, but the mechanical stability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The stator is constructed from multiple thin lamination sheets stacked together, with cooling ducts formed by through-openings in alternating sheets. This segmentation distributes the structural load across many layers, maintaining mechanical integrity while providing extensive cooling surface area through the cumulative effect of multiple small openings
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple lamination sheets with through-openings are stacked and bonded together to form a unified stator structure. The alternating pattern of through-openings in adjacent sheets creates continuous cooling ducts while the stacking and bonding of sheets restores and maintains the mechanical strength and stability of the original solid structure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves high cooling performance with low pressure loss and reduced thermal hot spots, ensuring efficient heat dissipation and minimal disruption to magnetic flux, thus addressing the challenge of increased heat production in high-power wind turbines.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling fluid is guidable through the cooling channel
Implementation Method 2
efficient heat transfer
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A generator of a wind turbine comprises a stator (5) and a rotor (6). The stator comprises stacked first and second lamination sheets (100, 200, 300) with different through openings (315, 215, 316) radially extending between air gap and non air-gap side of the stator (5,, 5*) enabling a low fluid flow resistance and a high cooling surface resulting in a high cooling performance.