A New Method for Fast and Accurate Calculation of Saturation Curves for Large Synchronous Generators

Synchronous generators are the main electric machine in steam, gas and combined cycle power plants. Various methods have been proposed for the design and analysis of large synchronous generators, although these methods are often not very accurate and/or fast. This paper introduces a fast method, which calculates the saturation curves of large synchronous generators from a single static Finite Element (FE) simulation. Open circuit, short circuit and full load field currents are calculated using the proposed method. Test results are compared with output of the developed method. Comparison between test and analytical results show low error and high precision which is acceptable in tendering and design stage of turbogenerators.