4

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.ABS TRAC T
3
1.1ACK NOW LED GEMEN TS
10
1.2. PROFILE OF BHEL
11
1.3. PREFACE
13
2. INTRODUCTION
14
2.1 DRAWBACKS OF EARLY VPI PROCESS
14
2.2 ADVANTAGE OF PRESENT RESIN POOR VPI PROCESS
15
3. INTRODUCTION TO VARIOUS PARTS OF A
GENERATOR
17
3.1S TAT O R
17
3.2R O TO R
18
3.3 FIELD CONNECTIONS AND MULTI CONTACTS
19
3.4 EXCITATION SYSTEM
19
3.5 PERMANENT MAGNET GENERATOR AND AVR
20
3.6 VARIOUS LOSSES IN A GENERATOR
23
4. MANUFACTURE OF GENERATOR
26
VARIOUS STAGES IN MANUFACTURE OF GENERATOR
26
4.1 STATOR MANUFACTURING PROCESS
27
4.1.1 STATOR CORE CONSTRUCTION
27
4.1.2 PREPARATION OF STATOR LAMINATIONS
27
4.1.3 RECEPTION OF SILICON STEEL ROLLS
27
4.1.4 SHEARING
27
4.1.5 BLANKING AND NOTCHING
27
4.1.6 COMPOUND NOTCHING
27
4.1.7 INDIVIDUAL NOTCHING
28
4.1.8 DEBURRING
28
4.1.9 VARNISHING
28
5. STATOR CORE ASSEMBLY
29
5.1 TRAIL PACKET ASSEMBLY
29
5.2 NORMAL CORE ASSEMBLY
29
5.2.1 STEPPED PACKET
ASSEMBLY
29
5.2.2 NORMAL PACKET
ASSEMBLY
29
5.2.2.1 IN PROCESS PRESSIN
5
5.2.2.2 FITTING OF CLAMPING
BOLTS
30
6. STATOR WINDING
30
6.1 CONDUCTOR MATERIAL USED IN COIL
MANUFACTURING
31
6.2 TYPES OF CONDUCTOR COILS
31
7. ELECTRICAL INSULATION
32
7.1 STATOR WINDING INSULATION SYSTEM FEATURES
35
7.1.1 STRAND INSULATION
35
7.1.2 TURN INSULATION
39
7.1.3 GROUND WALL INSULATION
40
7.1.4 SLOT DISCHARGES
41
7.2 INSULATING MATERIALS
41
7.2.1 CLASSIFICATION OF INSULATING MATERIALS
42
7.2.2 INSULATING MATERIALS FOR ELECTRICAL
MACHINES
42
7.3 ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF INSULATION AND FEW
DEFINITIONS
44
7.3.1 INSULATION RESISTANCE
44
7.3.2 DIELECTRIC STRENGTH
44
7.3.3 POWER FACTOR
44
7.3.4 DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
44
7.3.5 DIELECTRIC LOSS
44
8 R ESIN IMPREGNATION
45
8.1 INSULATION MATERIALS FOR LAMINATIONS
46
8.2 VARNISH
47
8.3 RESIN POOR SYSTEM
8.4 RESIN RICH SYSTEM
48
9. MANUFACTURE OF STATOR COILS
48
9.1 FOR RESIN POOR PROCESS
48
9.1.1 RECEPTION OF COPPER CONDUCTORS
50
9.1.2 TRANSPOSITION
50
9.1.3 PUTTY OPERATION
50
9.1.4 STACK
CONSOLIDATION
51
9.1.5 BENDING
51
9.1.6 FINAL TAPING
51
9.2 FOR RESIN RICH PROCESS
52

11
1.2 PROFILE OF B.H.E.L.

Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) is today the

largest engineering enterprise of India with an excellent track
record of performance. Its first plant was set up at Bhopal in 1956
under technical collaboration with M/s. AEI, UK followed by three
more major plants at Haridwar, Hyderabad and Tiruchirapalli with
Russian and Czechoslovak assistance.

These plants have been at the core of BHEL’s efforts to

grow and diversify and become India’s leading engineering
company. The company now has 14 manufacturing divisions, 8
service centers and 4 power sector regional centers, besides project
sites spread all over India and abroad and also regional operations
divisions in various state capitals in India for providing quick
service to customers.

BHEL manufactures over 180 products and meets the

needs of core-sectors like power, industry, transmission,
transportation (including railways), defense, telecommunications,
oil business, etc. Products of BHEL make have established an
enviable reputation for high quality and reliability.

BHEL has installed equipment for over 62,000 MW of

power generation-for Utilities, Captive and Industrial users.
Supplied 2,00,000 MVA transformer capacity and sustained
equipment operating in Transmission & Distribution network up to
400kV – AC & DC, Supplied over 25,000 Motors with Drive
Control System Power projects. Petrochemicals, Refineries, Steel,
Aluminium, Fertiliser, Cement plants etc., supplied Traction
electric and AC/DC Locos to power over 12,000 Km Railway
network.

Supplied over one million Valves to Power Plants and

other Industries. This is due to the emphasis placed all along on
designing, engineering and manufacturing to international
standards by acquiring and assimilating some of the best
technologies in the world from leading companies in USA, Europe
and Japan, together with technologies from its-own R & D centers
BHEL has acquired ISO 9000 certification for its operations and
has also adopted the concepts of Total Quality Management
(TQM).
 BHEL presently has manufactured Turbo-Generators of
ratings up to 560 MW and is in the process of going up to 660
MW. It has also the capability to take up the manufacture of
ratings unto 1000 MW suitable for thermal power generation, gas
based and combined cycle power generation as- well-as for diverse
industrial applications like Paper, Sugar, Cement, Petrochemical,
Fertilizers, Rayon Industries, etc. Based on proven designs and
know-how backed by over three decades of experience and
accreditation of ISO 9001. The Turbo-generator is a product of
high-class workmanship and quality. Adherence to stringent
quality-checks at each stage has helped BHEL to secure
prestigious global orders in the recent past from Malaysia, Malta,
Cyprus, Oman, Iraq, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia. The
successful completion of the various export projects in a record
time is a testimony of BHEL’s performan

Established in the late 50’s, Bharat Heavy Electrical

Limited (BHEL) is, today, a name to reckon with in the industrial
world. It is the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprises
of its kind in India and is one of the leading international
companies in the power field. BHEL offers over 180 products and
provides systems and services to meet the needs of core sections
like: power, transmission, industry, transportation, oil & gas, non-
conventional energy sources and telecommunication. A wide-
spread network of 14 manufacturing divisions, 8 service centers
and 4 regional offices besides a large number of project sites
spread all over India and abroad, enables BHEL to be close to its
customers and cater to their specialized needs with total solutions-
efficiently and economically. An ISO 9000 certification has given
the company international recognition for its commitment towards
quality. With an export presence in more than 50 countries BHEL
is truely India’s industrial ambassador to the world.

1.3 PREFACE

Power is the basic necessity for economic

development of a country. The production of electrical energy and
its per capital consumption is deemed as an index of standard of
living in a nation in the present day civilization. Development of
heavy or large-scale industries, as well as medium scale industries,
agriculture, transportation etc, totally depend on electrical power
resources of engineers and scientists to find out ways and means to
supply required power at cheapest rate. The per capital
consumption on average in the world is around 1200KWH, the
figure is very low for our country and we have to still go ahead in
power generation to provide a decent standard of living for people.

An AC generator is a device, which converts mechanical energy to

electrical
energy. The alternator as it is commonly called works on the
principle of ‘Electro Magnetic
Induction’. Turbo generators are machines which can generate
high voltages and capable of
delivering KA of currents .so the designer should be cautious in
designing the winding insulation. So
insulation design plays a major role on the life of the Turbo
Generator. In our project we deal with the
“Manufacture process of turbo generator and its insulation design
by VPI process.”
 The first half of project is concerned with the aspects
of generator manufacturing comprising of stator manufacturing, in
a step by step procedure involving different stages, and the latter
stage includes the insulation design of the generator by VPI
process in a detailed manner, which completes the generator
design.

We more over stress mainly on VPI insulation process.

Before going deep into the topic we will start with a brief
introduction and we conclude with the recent trends in the
insulation systems used all over the world.

14
2.IN TRDUC TION

Electrical insulating materials are defined as materials

that offer a large resistance to the flow of current and for that
reason they are used to keep the current in its proper path i.e. along
the conductor. Insulation is the heart of the generator. Since
generator principle is based on the induction of e.m.f in a
conductor when placed in a varying magnetic field. There should
be proper insulation between the magnetic field and the
conductors. For smaller capacities of few KW, the insulation may
not affect more on the performance of the generator but for larger
capacities of few MW (>100MW) the optimization of insulation is
an inevitable task, moreover the thickness of insulation should be
on par with the level of the voltage, also non homogenic insulation
provisions may lead to deterioration where it is thin and prone to
hazardous short circuits, also the insulating materials applied to the
conductors are required to be flexible and have high specific
(dielectric) strength and ability to withstand unlimited cycles of
heating and cooling.

Keeping this in view among other insulating materials

like solids gases etc liquid dielectrics are playing a major role in
heavy electrical equipment where they can embedded deep into the
micro pores and provide better insulating properties. Where as
solid di-electrics provide better insulation with lower thickness and
with greater mechanical strength. So the process of insulation
design which has the added advantage of both solid and liquid
dielectrics would be a superior process of insulation design. One
such process which has all the above qualities is the VPI (vacuum
pressurised impregnation) process and has proven to be the best
process till date.

2.1 Drawbacks of Early VPI Process:

DR. MEYER brought the VPI system with the collaboration

of WESTING HOUSE in the year 1956. It has been used for many
years as a basic process for thorough filling of all interstices in
insulated components, especially high voltage stator coils and bars.
Prior to development of
thermosetting resins, the widely used insulation system for 6.6kv
and higher voltages was a VPI
system in which, Bitumen Bonded Mica Flake Tape is used as
main ground insulation. The bitumen
is heated up to about 180°C to obtain low viscosity which aids
thorough impregnation.

To assist penetration, the pressure in the autoclave was

raised to 5 or 6 atmospheres. After appropriate curing and
calibration, the coils or bars were wound and connected up in the
normal manner. These systems performed satisfactorily in service
provided they were used in their thermal limitations.

In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, however, many large units,
principally turbine generators,
failed due to inherently weak thermoplastic nature of bitumen
compound.
Failures were due to two types of problem
15
b.Excessive relaxation of the main ground insulation.
Much development work was carried out to try to produce new
insulation systems, which
didn’t exhibit these weaknesses.
The first major new system to overcome these difficulties was
basically a fundamental
Improvement to the classic Vacuum Pressure Impregnation
process:

Coils and bars were insulated with dry mica flake tapes,
lightly bonded with synthetic resin and backed by a thin layer of
fibrous material. After taping, the bars or coils were vacuum dried
and pressure impregnated in polyester resin. Subsequently, the
resin was converted by chemical action from a liquid to a solid
compound by curing at an appropriate temperature, e.g. 150°C. this
so called

thermosetting process enable coils and bars to be made which

didn’t relax subsequently when

operating at full service temperature. By building in some

permanently flexible tapings at the evolutes of diamond shaped
coils, it was practicable to wind them without difficulty.
Thereafter, normal slot packing, wedging, connecting up and
bracing procedures were carried out. Many manufacturers for
producing their large coils and bars have used various versions of
this Vacuum Pressure Impregnation procedure for almost 30 years.

The main differences between systems have been used is in

the type of micaceous tapes used for main ground insulation and the
composition of the impregnated resins. Although the first system
available was styrenated polyester, many developments have taken
place during the last two decades. Today, there are several different
types of epoxy, epoxy-polyester and polyester resin in common use.
Choice of resin system and associated micaceous tape is a complex
problem for the machine manufacturer.

Although the classic Vacuum Pressure Impregnation

technique has improved to a significant extent, it is a modification
to the basic process, which has brought about the greatest change
in the design and manufacture of medium-sized A.C industrial
machines. This is the Global Impregnation

Process. Using this system, significant increases in reliability,

reduction in manufacturing costs and
improved output can be achieved.
2.2 Advantage of present resin poor VPI process:

VPI is a process, which is a step above the

conventional vacuum system. VPI includes pressure in addition to
vacuum, thus assuring good penetration of the varnish in the coil.
The result is improved mechanical strength and electrical
properties. With the improved penetration, a void free coil is
achieved as well as giving greater mechanical strength. With the
superior varnish distribution, the temperature gradient is also
reduced and therefore, there is a lower hot spot rise compared to
the average rise

In order to minimize the overall cost of the machine &

to reduce the time cycle of the insulation system vacuum pressure
Impregnated System is used. The stator coils are taped with porous
resin poor mica tapes before inserting in the slots of cage stator,
subsequently wounded stator is subjected to VPI process, in which
first the stator is vacuum dried and then impregnated in resin bath
under pressure of Nitrogen gas.
17
3 Introduction to various parts of a Generator:

The manufacturing of a generator involves in

manufacturing of all the parts of the generator separately as per the
design requirements and assembling them for the operation. It is
worth knowing the parts of the Turbo Generator. Usually for larger
generators the assembling is done at the generator installation area
in order to avoid the damage due to mechanical stresses during
transportation, also this facilitates easy transportation. Let us have
a view about various parts of a

turbo generator. Parts of a turbo generator:

1. Stator
2. Rotor
3. Excitation system
4. Cooling system
5. Insulation system
6. Bearings

3.1 STATOR:
3.1.1 STATOR FRAME

The stator frame is of welded steel single piece construction.

It supports the laminated core and winding. It has radial and axial
ribs having adequate strength and rigidity to minimise core
vibrations and suitably designed to ensure efficient cooling. Guide
bards are welded or bolted inside the stator frame over which the
core is assembled. Footings are provided to support the stator
foundation.

3.1.2 STATOR CORE

The stator core is made of silicon steel sheets with high
permeability and low hysteresis and
eddy current losses. The sheets are suspended in the stator frame
from insulated guide bars.
Stator laminations are coated with synthetic varnish; are stacked
and held between sturdy steel
clamping plates with non-magnetic pressing fingers, which are
fastened or welded to the stator frame.

In order to minimize eddy current losses of rotating

magnetic flux which interacts with the core, the entire core is built
of thin laminations. Each lamination layer is made of individual
segments.

The segments are punched in one operation from electrical

sheet steel lamination having high silicon content and are carefully
deburred. The stator laminations are assembled as separate cage
core without the stator frame. The segments are staggered from
layer to layer so that a core of high mechanical strength and
uniform permeability to magnetic flux is obtained. On the outer
circumference the segments are stacked on insulated rectangular
bars, which hold them in position
To obtain optimum compression and eliminate looseness during
operation the laminations are hydraulically compressed and heated
during the stacking procedure. To remove the heat, spaced
segments are placed at intervals along the core length, which
divide the core into sections to provide wide radial passages for
cooling air to flow.

The purpose of stator core is

1.
To support the stator winding.
2.
To carry the electromagnetic flux generated by rotor winding.
So selection of material for building up of core plays a vital role.
3.1.3 STATOR WINDING:

The stator winding is a fractional pitch two layer type,

it consisting of individual bars. The bars are located in slots of
rectangular cross section which are uniformly distributed on the
circumference of the stator core.

In order to minimize losses, the bars are compared of separately

insulated strands which
are exposed to 360.degrees transposing
To minimize the stator losses in the winding, the strands of the top
and bottom bars are
separately brazed and insulated from each other.
3.2ROTOR:
3.2.1 ROTOR SHAFT:

Rotor shaft is a single piece solid forging

manufactured from a vacuum casting. Slots for insertion of field
winding are milled into the rotor body. The longitudinal slots are
distributed over the circumference. So that solids poles are
obtained. To ensure that only high quality forgings are used,
strengthen test, material analysis and ultrasonic tests are performed
during manufacture of the rotor. After completion, the rotor is
based in various planes at different speeds and then subjected to an
over speed test at 120% of rated speed for two minutes.

3.2.2. ROTOR WINDING AND RETAINING RINGS:

The rotor winding consisting of several coils, which

are inserted into the slots and series connected such that two coils
groups from one pole. Each coil consists of several connected
turns, each of which consists of two half turns which are connected
by brazing in the end section. The individual turns of the coils are
insulated against each other, the layer insulation L-shaped strips of
lamination epoxy glass fibre with nomax filler are used for slot
insulation. The slot wedges are made
 20
Synchronous generators. These generators should be highly
reliable in operation to meet the demand.
This calls for a reliable and sophisticated mode of excitation
system.

When the first a.c generators were introducing a natural

choice for the supply of field systems was the DC exciter. DC
exciter has the capability for equal voltage output of either
polarity, which helps in improving the generator transient
performance. DC exciters, how ever, could not be adopted for
large ratings because of the problems in the design commutator
and brush gear, which is economically unattractive. Of –course, the
problems are not uncommon in power stations but Of the
environment with sulphur vapours, acidic fumes as in the cases of
petrochemical and fertilizer industries, exposure of DC exciter.
This adds to the problem of design.

Types of a.c exciters are:

(1) High frequency excitation
(2) Brush less excitation

(3) Static excitation

The high frequency D.C exciter is a specially designed

“inductor type alternator” with no winding on its rotor. It is
designed to operate at high frequency to reduce the size of the
rotor; the a.c exciter was very reliable in operation. Though this
system eliminates all problems associated with commutator, it is
not free from problems attributable to slip rings and its brush gear.
Thus brushless excitation system was introduced.

The BL exciter consists of field winding on the stator. This

system proved to be highly reliable and required less maintenance.
Absence of power cables and external ac power supplies males the
system extremely reliable. The problem associated with brushes
like fast wear out of brush, sparkling etc, are eliminated.

This suffers from the disadvantage of lack of facility for field

suppression in the case of an
internal fault in generator.
The system comprises shaft driven AC exciter with rotating diodes.
3.5 PERMANENT MAGNET GENERATOR AND AVR:
This system is highly reliable with least maintenance and is ideally
suitable for gas driven
generators.

The static excitation system was developed contemporarily

as an alternative to brush less excitation system. This system was
successfully adapted to medium and large capacity Turbo
generators. Though the system offers very good transient
performance, the problems associated with slip rings and brush
gear system are still present