4/7/2014 Changing the Number of Generator Poles

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Very Like a Whale
In reality, the stator of a
generator consists of a
very large number of
electromagnets.

Changing the Number of
Generator Poles
You may be t hinking t hat a st at or
wit h t wice as many magnet s would be
t wice as expensive, but t hat is not
really t he case. Generat ors (and
mot ors) are usually made wit h a very
large number of st at or magnet s
anyway, as you see in t he pict ure. (We
have not yet added t he st at or coil
windings on t he iron).
The reason for t his st at or
arrangement is t hat we wish t o
minimise t he air gap bet ween t he rot or
and t he st at or. At t he t he same t ime
we need t o provide cooling of t he
magnet s. The st at or iron in realit y
consist s of a large number of t hin (0.5
mm) insulat ed st eel sheet s which are st acked t o form t he st at or iron. This
layering is done t o prevent current eddies in t he st at or iron from decreasing t he
efficiency of t he generat or.
The problem of providing more generat or poles on an asynchronous cage
wound generat or t hen really boils down t o connect ing t he neighbouring magnet s
different ly: Eit her we t ake a bunch of magnet s at a t ime, connect ing t hem t o
t he same phase as we move around t he st at or, or else we change t o t he next
phase every t ime we get t o t he next magnet .
Two Speed, Pole Changing Generators
Some manufact urers fit t heir t urbines wit h t wo generat ors, a small one for
periods of low winds, and a large one for periods of high winds.
A more common design on newer machines is pole changing generat ors, i.e.
generat ors which (depending on how t heir st at or magnet s are connect ed) may
run wit h a different number of poles, and t hus a different rot at ional speed.
Some elect rical generat ors are cust om built as t wo-in-one, i.e. t hey are able t o
run as e.g. eit her 400 kW or 2000 kW generat ors, and at t wo different speeds.
This design has become ever more widespread t hroughout t he indust ry.
Whet her it is wort hwhile t o use a double generat or or a higher number of
poles for low winds depends on t he local wind speed dist ribut ion , and t he ext ra
cost of t he pole changing generat or compared t o t he price t he t urbine owner
get s for t he elect ricit y. (You should keep in mind t hat t he energy cont ent of
low winds is very small).
A good reason for having a dual generat or syst em, however, is t hat you may
run your t urbine at a lower rot at ional speed at low wind speeds. This is bot h
more efficient (aerodynamically), and it means less noise from t he rot or blades
(which is usually only a problem at low wind speeds).
Incident ally, you may have a few pole changing mot ors in your house
wit hout even knowing it : Washing machines which can also spin dry clot hes
usually have pole changing mot ors which are able t o run at low speed for
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No. of poles
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washing and at high speed for spinning. Similarly, exhaust fans in your kit chen
may be built for t wo or t hree different speeds. (In t he lat t er case wit h a variable
speed fan, you can use what you have learned about t he energy in t he wind : If
you want t o move t wice as much air out of your house per minut e using t he
same fan, it will cost you eight t imes as much elect ricit y).
Copyright 1997-2003 Danish Wind Industry Association
Updated 17 May 2003
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