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Failure Mode Assessment of the Generator Stress Grading System Christian Staubach Thomas Hildinger University of Applied Science Voith Hydro Hannover, Germany Sao Paulo, Brazil
Abstract— In this paper different kinds of electrical driven containing miscellaneous issues not caused by the insulation failure modes in the end-winding region, are discussed and system itself, such as water ingress, contamination foreign classified. Failure types related to the stress grading system are objects, mechanical impact and others. This will not further be analyzed via numerical simulation models and root causes are analyzed in this work. given for the different defects based on the calculation results. Typical pictures of various findings are presented and explained. Phase split discharge phenomenon is mostly caused by In a last step possible diagnostic measurements to identify issues insufficient clearance and therefore a design-related problem. related to the stress grading are discussed and some PD-pattern Although insulation cracking is mainly a result of mechanical or are presented exemplarily. thermo-mechanical overstressing of the main insulation, this issue is closely linked to an electrically driven failure type. The aim of this work is to give the basis to correlate findings in Typically, a mechanical damaged insulation is also weakened the end-winding and especially the highly stressed stress grading electrically. area with their most likely cause of defect. In this paper we will concentrate on the other 3 failure types, OCP (CAT) and ECP (SGT) deterioration as well as bar to Keywords—Stress grading, FEM, Assessment, Hydro Generator, Stator bar ground discharges, which are closely related to the overall generator stress grading system. I. INTRODUCTION Electrically driven failures within the generator winding II. CLASSIFICATION INTO GLOBAL AND LOCAL DEFECT insulation have still a major share in reported forced outages of CAUSES power plants. Well known failure mechanism, such as slot discharges and vibration sparking are occurring in the slot region When it comes to the causes for electrically driven failures [1], whereas other phenomena are limited to the end-winding within the stress grading system, a classification into overall region. global issues, such as inadequately tailored OCP or ECP- For the end-winding region several insulation related issues resistance characteristic, and local defects, like voids or reported are reported and pictures of the findings are published mechanical damages are reasonable. Therefore, the individual [2-6]. However, detailed assessment about the root causes and failure mechanisms are analyzed based on this distinction. recommendations for risk mitigation as well as corrective and preventive measures are not given often. A. Global defect Causes A common cause for failures linked to the stress grading system is an inadequate ECP, OCP or combination of ECP and OCP resistance characteristics. The influence of the resistances on the resulting electrical (kV/mm) and thermal (°C) stress can be determined by means of modern simulation tools based on the Finite-Element-Method [7].
Fig. 1: Five groups of electrically driven failure types in the end-winding region
Basically, electrically driven failure types in the end-
winding region can be divided in 5 different groups. While the five major groups highlighted in Fig. 1 are caused by wrong design, material selection, etc. there is an additional group Fig. 2: Model of the geometry used in the simulation model
For the following evaluation and assessment, a model of a F2 Too high Too high OCP hydro generator stator bar in the involute region together with F3 Too low Too low OCP/ECP a core section is used, see Fig. 2. F4 Too high Too low End ECP In the model defined boundary condition, such as applied voltage, copper temperature, forced convection and material If the OCP has a too high OCP-resistivity ρOCP (F1 and F2), the properties are set. Only the OCP and ECP-resistivity ρOCP and electrical shielding function is not given anymore. ρECP are parameterized. To take the non-linearity of the ECP In that particular case the OCP behaves like an additional into account, its resistivity is described by the equation insulating material. As a result, high electrical stress is occurring in the OCP-region close to grounded elements, such ρECP[E] = ρECP∙e-βE, as clamping fingers or laminated sheets. There will be no influence of the ECP resistance characteristic anymore, because where E is the absolute value of field strength and β a there is no electrical contact between OCP and ECP, see Fig. 4. coefficient describing the non-linearity. For the fundamental parameter study the temperature dependency of the stress grading material ρECP[T] and ρOCP[T] are neglected. In general, only a little influence of the temperature on the stress grading is observed if the temperature is not exceeding a defined threshold value. To investigate the influence of OCP and ECP-resistivity on the stress grading functionality, the maximum electrical stress Emax occurring along the bar surface (path in Fig. 2) is calculated for various ρOCP and ρECP combinations.
Fig. 3: Resulting maximum electrical stress in kV/mm depending on various ρOCP Fig. 4: Path plots of voltage and field strength along the bar surface in case of and ρECP combinations the failure types F1 and F2 together with the reference R
In Fig. 3 the surface plot of Emax is plotted over various If OCP and ECP-resistivity ρOCP and ρECP are both very low, combinations of ρOCP and ρECP. The data is obtained by means an electrical field enhancement is resulting at the ECP end (F3). of several hundreds of calculations for ρOCP and ρECP For a constant ρOCP and increasing ρECP the maximum field Emax combinations over a range of up to 10 decades of their is moving towards the OCP-ECP overlapping. For a too high resistivity values. resistivity ρECP the resulting electrical stress in this area will The 4 corners of this surface, F1 – F4, highlights the different become too high (F4). failure types related to the stress grading system, whereas R The corresponding Path plots of voltage and field strength represent a proper working system. These 4 failure types a along the bar surface for these two failure scenarios F3 and F4 characterized by the following OCP and ECP-resistance are shown in Fig. 5. behavior summarized in Table 1. In addition, the location of the maximum electrical stress Emax is given.
Table 1: Overview about the different failure types caused by global defects OCP-resistance ECP-resistance Location Emax R Proper Proper OCP/ECP F1 Too low Too high OCP While the failure type F1/ F2 will most likely be detected by HV- testing during machine assembly, stator bars exhibit to failure type F4 will often pass HV-testing. If the ECP-resistance for a given ECP-length is too low (F3), corona will occur at the ECP-end. An example is shown in Fig. 7 for a parallel ring with ECP configuration.
Fig. 7: Corona as a result of field enhancement at the ECP end caused by too low ECP resistance (F3)
III. LOCAL DEFECT CAUSES
Sometimes it may be difficult to distinguish between global and local defect causes for a given visual finding. For instance, the arcing from bar surface to the clamping finger in the top picture from Fig. 6 can also be caused by a small local defect of the OCP, such as tape or paint variation or tiny erosion spots Fig. 5: Path plots of voltage and field strength along the bar surface in case of where the resistivity becomes too high or low. the failure types F3 and F4 together with the reference R The following Table 2 summarizes the three failure types F5, F6 and F7 caused by local defects and analyzed in this work. The pictures in Fig. 6 show possible findings in machines caused by the failure types F1/ F2 and F4 discussed above. On the Table 2: Characteristic of three failure types caused by local defects left hand picture field concentration in the air gap between bar OCP and ECP resistance Local defect location surface and clamping finger due to the missing OCP shielding F5 Proper OCP function results in PD or arcing. The right hand picture shows F6 Proper OCP overlapped by ECP PD withening indicating field concentration at the OCP/ECP- F7 Proper ECP overlapping due to high-ohmic ECP resistance characteristic. Typically, failure type F5 can be causes by a local spot in the OCP-region either be low resistive caused by conductive particle agglomeration or very high ohmic because of missing particles or deterioration via PD erosion [9]. For the following analysis only the OCP-layer is shown, compare to Fig. 2. Additionally, the clamping fingers are not considered here. Their influence will be discussed later. Fig. 8 gives the results for electrical stress (kV/mm) and temperature (°C) for a high and low ohmic spot within the OCP. The location of the defect is highlighted with the dashed rectangular. As boundary conditions the line-to-ground voltage (11,54 kV) is assigned for the electrical analysis, whereas ambient temperature is assumed for the thermal analysis. Due to this thermal hot-spots in the OCP-region can easily be Fig. 6: Possible erosion pattern caused by the failure types F1/ F2 (left) and F4 identified. Low-ohmic spot means the defect location is far (right) in the stress grading area [8] more conductive than the residual OCP; the high-ohmic defect is several decades higher in resistivity. In case of a low-ohmic Failure types F1/ F2 and F4 can be a result of a poor tape or local defect no influence on the electrical stress as well as vanish quality, wrong choose of resistivity or may be temperature is obtained. A significant field enhancement is introduced during the manufacturing process of the stator bar. resulting, if the local defect becomes too resistive. The linked field strength will most likely result in PD-activity during operation. Fig. 10: Possible erosion pattern caused by the failure types F5 (left) and F6 (right) with local high-ohmic defects [10]
Fig. 10 shows typical erosion pattern caused by the failure
types F5 and F6. Continuous internal PD-activity in small voids direct underneath the OCP will deteriorate the material resulting in a loose of its conductivity. Once the OCP-erosion reaches the OCP surface, the high-ohmic small defect, simulated and discussed previously, will sustain the PD-activity and further destroy the OCP-material. A very early stage of the erosion is presented in the left picture. Fig. 8: Results for field and temperature distribution in the OCP-area with a local Normally, the OCP-erosion is not that critical and defect (F5) generators are known to run for several years without any corrective measures. However, if the high-ohmic erosion spot In Fig. 9 the results for field and temperature distribution for is located in the clamping finger region and clearance is quite a local defect in the OCP/ECP-overlapping region are given. low, the electrical field enhancement can result in arcing The results are comparable with the previous once in Fig. 8. between the bar surface and the finger [9]. This arcing is critical High electrical field strength is only obtained if the local defect because it is quite intensive and the energy flow is becomes very resistive, i.e. will perform like an insulation spot. perpendicular towards the insulation surface. This mechanism An influence on the temperature distribution is not observed. will result in faster deterioration of the main insulation and Although, not presented here, the defect size itself will have an could lead to a ground fault finally. impact on the electrical stress. Fig. 11 summarizes these situation an also presented some example of correlating PRPD-pattern.
Fig. 11: Influence of clamping finger on erosion mechanism caused by a local
high resistive spot in the OCP-area (F5)
In Fig.12 results for a local defect within the ECP-region are
presented. The location of the defect is highlighted with the dashed square. Shown only is the 2. ECP-layer, see Fig. 2. In general, these results will be strongly influenced by the axial Fig. 9: Results for field and temperature distribution in the OCP-area with a local position of the defect spot, the magnitude of the spot resistance defect in the OCP/ECP-overlapping region (F6) deviation and its size. In both cases there is a field enhancement observable. However, more severe is the high-ohmic defect. An influence on the temperature distribution is hardly visible. higher voltages due to its non-linear behavior. However, a lot of factors, such as design, used material, etc. may distort the results and accuracy of the measurement. Additionally, local defects, will not influence the tanD-measurement and not suitable for defect detection.
Fig. 15: Comparison of PRPD-pattern for ECP-deterioration (F4) from different
literatures [9]
On- or offline PD-measurement can illustrate global or local
Fig.12: Results for field and temperature distribution in the ECP-region with a failure types related to the stress grading system if PD is local defect (F7) present. Different failure types will result in specific PRPD- Especially, the high-ohmic local defect can result in pattern, see Fig 11. [6,9]. Accuracy of the measurement will continuous PD-activity in operation. The left picture in Fig. 13 depend on design, failure type and location within the winding, shows the typical whitening as sign of ECP-deterioration degree of erosion, measuring setup, etc.. Therefore, the same caused by local electrical stress enhancement. The right picture failure mechanism can result in different PD-measurements, shows local PD-activity via an UV-camera indicating the local compare to Fig. 15. defect position. V. SUMMARY Electrical failures within the stress grading system can be grouped in global or local defect causes. In most cases global defects are caused by insufficient tailoring of OCP and/or ECP resistance characteristics, whereas local defects are driven by variations in resistance distribution. By means of numerical simulations these failure types can be identified and corrective or preventive measures addressed. Diagnostic measurements, such as tanD or PD, may point Fig. 13: Possible erosion pattern caused by the failure types F7 (left) and PD- possible problems related to the stress grading system out. activity observed via UV-camera indicating local defect in ECP-area However, assessment of measurement results is difficult and in many cases not comparable with other units. IV. DIAGNOSTIC MEASURES REFERENCES Common measurements to identify potential issues related [1] M. Liese, M. Brown: “Design-Dependent Slot Discharge and Vibration to the stress grading system are dissipation factor (tanD) and Sparking on High Voltage Windings” partial discharge (PD) measurement. In special situations [2] C. Maughan: “Problems with newer Generators”, http://ccug.users- global defects within the stress grading system can be evaluated groups.com/AnnualMeetings/2013/Presentations/Problems-with-newer- by means of the tanD-results. Fig. 14 gives an overview about generators-3%20-%20Maughan.pdf. the theoretical influence of the different global defects on the [3] http://www.ccj-online.com/generators/ reference tanD-curve of a single bar. [4] G. Klempner. I. Kerszenbaum: „Operation and Maintenance of Large Turbo-Generators, John Wiley & Sons, 2004 [5] W. H. Moudy, “Deterioation Mechanism in Recent Air Cooled Turbine Generators”, ASME Power, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2006 [6] C. Hudon, M. Bélec, “Partial Discharge Signal Interpretation for Generator Diagnostic“, IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, Vol. 12, No. 2, April 2005 [7] C. Staubach: “Comprehensive electrical and thermal analysis of the stress grading system of a large hydro generator”, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, 2018 [8] G. C. Stone, et al.: “RECENT PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED WITH MOTOR AND GENERATOR WINDINGS”, Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference, 2009 [9] C. Staubach: “Electrical Failure Mode Assessment of the Insulation System in the Generator End-Winding Region”, 11. Essener Tagung Fig. 14: Influence of the different global defects on the reference tanD-curve Turbogeneratoren in konventionellen Kraftwerken, Windparks und Wasserkraftwerken, Essen, Germany, 2018 Basically, the initial tanD value is dependent on the OCP- [10] F. Pohlmann, J. Weidner, D. Schattauer: “Design and 25 Years resistance, whereas the ECP will mainly influence the tanD at Experience of Turbine Generators with Global VPI Stator Windings”, EPRI generator workshop, Rome, Italy, 2013 View publication stats
