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A1-113

CIGRE 2008

ROTATING DIODES EXCITER HAVING COMPETITIVE PERFORMANCE FOR NUCLEAR PLANT

M. BERLAMONT / L. DIESTEL-FEDDERSEN & E. L. BERCA ALSTOM France /Switzerland

N. PICHOT, L. DAVID EDF / CNEPE France

SUMMARY 20 years after the construction of its 1500 MW power stations EDF will continue the development of its nuclear fleet by choosing the European Pressurised Reactor technology. The first unit to be commissioned will be the unit 3 of the Flamanville power station, for a rating of 1750 MW. Compared to previous units the generator design for this new range including its exciter and auxiliaries should take into account not only the load upgrade but also the improved targets regarding reliability and maintenance aspects: Expected life time of 60 years Forced outage hours < 28 hours / year 18 months of continuous operation Maintenance in accordance with the optimised duration of the reactor refuelling outage. Another important point is to fulfil also with European laws applicable to generators operating under hydrogen pressure: French application laws of the European Directive 97/23/CE for the equipment operating under pressure Regulation regarding hazardous and explosive atmosphere Prevention against environmental risks. This paper presents an example of the adopted approach concerning the developments for the exciter of Flamanville 3. Based on a very positive feedback of experience of the previous range the basic design of the exciter with rotating diodes is maintained. But the following challenges have to be faced. First of them is the achievement of the electrical performances. The dimensioning parameter is the ceiling operation, especially for Flamanville 3 (EPR). Michel.berlamont@power.alstom.com.

In the specification it is stated that the exciter has to have its full performance capacity even with 2 rotating diodes out of order. The ceiling value is determined by the generator stability study in case of specified network faults such as short circuit or islanding. In order to determine the electrical behaviour of a brushless multiphase polygonal exciter a finite difference time step program has been used. This enables to verify that only the fuse of the faulty diode will blow. Also the simulation of 2 fuses blown after ceiling operation confirms that none of the remaining diodes will be in jeopardy. In parallel the formula to calculate the diode junction temperatures have been improved. The second target is to deal with the hydrogen risk. In case of a failure of the tightness of the rotor D-Leads sealing hydrogen can introduce into the exciter enclosure. The classic solution of sufficient H2 dissolution by air venting is not considered as appropriate within the electrical machine. A specific design solution is proposed: at the exciter end the D-Leads are fitted with double gaskets and a hole machined in the shaft. In case of a leak the hydrogen will escape outside the exciter housing. Thirdly the exciter cooling system should respect the thermal performances criteria. First point is to maintain the operation in case of an air/water cooler defect. Then the existing structure is not suitable: the 2 coolers should be no more in parallel but in serial on the airside. This change is one aspect of the review done on the cooling design for the exciter in order to respect the thermal limits. All these design enhancements are now a basis at disposal for all new nuclear exciters.

KEYWORDS
Exciter Rotating Diodes.As for SUMMARY, please keep the title KEYWORDS.

RECTIFIER DESIGN To design a rotating diodes exciter the maximum current, which must be delivered, has to be considered. This current is then obtained for the ceiling operation. The ceiling operation is active in case of sudden drop of generator voltage. The standard rule is to allow to the generator to sustain a three short-circuit at its terminals under a voltage of 0.6 Un. So the standard ceiling factor is fixed at 1.6 while the generator voltage is 0.6Un. A rotating diodes exciter is of a multi-polygonal synchronous machine defined by 4 main parameters: The number of poles 2p for the field winding The number of armature slots Ne The number of phases q The number of parallel paths 2a* *: a = number of diodes of same polarity that are conducting simultaneously. These parameters are linked together with design formulas. The design parameters for a diode are: Maximum average current Maximum RMS current Maximum junction temperature For such application the formulas of the average and RMS currents for each diode are defined as function of the generator rotor current If. As a basis the maximum values are obtained for Ifp = 1.6*Ifn with Ifn = rated rotor current. But in the case of large generators the reliability need requires that the performances of the exciter be maintained in case of diode failure(s). To determine the maximum current that a diode can deliver for such operation, the worst case must be considered, i.e. two diodes that are conducting simultaneously are faulty. That means that for one specific period (a-2) diodes are delivering the ceiling current. So we should have: Im max << Im limit Ith max << Ith limit Up to now the considered objective was: operation at full load with 2 diodes faults. For Flamanville 3 the target is higher: ceiling operation even with 2 diodes faults. Also the rated rotor current for 1750MW generators is higher than these of the previous unit of 1500 MW. Based on the existing exciter design for 1500 MW units a new exciter for EPR1750MW generators has been defined. To cover the loads range of this new series the basis for the rated rectified current is taken equal to 8000 A. While keeping the same inductor the armature winding design has been selected as follows: q = 46 instead of 39 Ne = 138 instead of 117 a = 5 instead of 4 In the case of Flamanville 3 the ceiling operation has to be defined according to the technical specifications of the contract: Stability requirements during accidental operation. Considering the electrical characteristics of the exciter and of the generator, studies of the response of the excitation system for the different transient operations were conducted. The result is that the dimensioning case is to sustain the synchronism with a network shortcircuit. For this configuration the required ceiling current is 1.74 p.u. So for Flamanville 3 the ceiling current Ifp is Ifp = 1.74*Ifn with Ifn = 6900 A. 2

The diode current values are: Rated value Ceiling value Maximum value (1) Average current Im in A 150 261 339 RMS current Ith in A 400 697 902 (1): value for the overloaded diode in case of ceiling operation with 2 fuses blown. Limit 750 1350

The maximum values obtained for this ceiling factor remain in the diode capacity. But to confirm the possibility of such ceiling operation the two following studies have been also conducted: To check that only the fuse of the faulty arm will blow To verify that the maximum diode junction temperature is acceptable The study of the electrical behaviour of a brushless multiphase polygonal exciter has required the development of a finite element model. This has been done in conjunction with a German university. As a result a finite difference time step program has been elaborated and allows simulating the different currents in the rectifier bridge, in particular in case of a diode failure. Each armature phase is connected to one rectifier bridge. The structure of the rectifier bridge is one fuse in serial with a diode of each polarity mounted in parallel. Each diode is connected to the positive or negative connections to the rotor D-leads. See Figure 1. Les Les Les personnes personnes personn que que que japprcie jador jaime

Figure 1. Rectifier bridge mounting

A diode failure corresponds to an internal short-circuit which should result only in the blow of its phase fuse. For the Flamanville 3 exciter the results in case of a short-circuit of one diode during normal or ceiling operation are: The fuse of the related diode will blow (pre-arcing & total I2t of the fuse are reached) All I2t values for the total fault clearing time are smaller than 30% of the pre-arcing I2t of the fuses, so all other diodes and fuses will survive the incident. For a rotating diodes exciter the diode operation is not continuous. The conduction time is only a/q*T if T is the electrical period of the armature winding. So the diode temperature is not only determined by the average current but also by the peak current when conducting. To calculate the junction temperature for irregular shaped current waveform the method of superposition theorem is used. The maximum power losses and the transient thermal impedance are considered while non-rectangular pulses are converted in rectangular pulses with the same peak power levels. The power losses are the sum of conduction losses and the switching losses. 3

The maximum diode junction temperature is function of: Pmax = Conduction losses for Imax (= If / a) + Switching losses Pav = Conduction losses for Iav (= f / q) + Switching losses Rtj = Transient thermal impedance for the diode junction Rj = Steady state thermal impedance for the diode junction Tc = Diode case temperature The transient thermal impedance is derived from the transient thermal impedance single pulse curve of the diode. In the case of EPR exciter Rtj is maximized by: Rtj = 0.1* Rj. Finally the maximum diode junction temperature is expressed by: Tjmax = f(Pmax, Pav, Rj, Rc, Rr, Ta) Where: Rc = Thermal impedance for the diode case Rr = Thermal impedance for the diode radiator Ta = Ambient air temperature In the case of Flamanville 3 the calculated values are: Rated value Ceiling value Maximum value (1) Limit Diode Junction Temperature in C 102 148 165 180 (1): value for the overloaded diode in case of ceiling operation with 2 fuses blown. HYDROGEN SAFETY The excitation current flows from the exciter diodes through copper connections to the D-leads and via the radial stalk and a laminated winding connection to the rotor winding, see Figure 2. The exciter is protected against hydrogen by two independent sealing stages. The double hydrogen seal is located close to the NDE coupling according standard technology of other Alstom rotor types. As an extra precaution, a second sealing stage has been foreseen. Between the two stages, a bore ensures that when a leakage occurs in the first sealing stage, the hydrogen exits through a radial exhaust bore, which will be detected outside the rotor. The second sealing stage prevents any hydrogen entering the exciter. In the same way, there is a radial hole in the D-leads in case of a crack or any other opening between the D-Leads. For each sealing stage, series of 0-rings and epoxy injected components ensure a tight sealing of the D-Leads, see Figure 3. Nevertheless, the 0-rings should be exchanged during every major inspection. To ensure the tightness of the sealing, resin is injected with high pressure through the inlet bore to the outer diameter of the D-lead. From a circumferential groove in the D-lead, the resin flows around the whole surface between D-Lead and sealing ring. The resin fills any openings and gaps and forms a hydrogen tight seal. The two D-Leads, filler pieces and the insulation layer are glued together before fitting and injecting resin in the sealing ring. A periodical maintenance is foreseen to check the tightness of the sealing by pressurizing helium through the radial bore. The detection of H2 is illustrated in Figure 4 and is made by: An hydrogen detector that is present at the top of the exit radial bore of the rotor; An additional hydrogen detector inside the exciter. It should not be possible to detect hydrogen inside the exciter, but, nevertheless, the prevention is ensured as the exciter is cooled in a closed air circuit with a small air exchange through the make-up filter. 4

Figure 2. Excitation current direction

Figure 3. The two independent sealing stages preventing H2 to enter TKJ exciter

Figure 4. The detection of H2

COOLING PERFORMANCE In contrast opposite to small exciters the ventilation of nuclear exciters is independent of the cooling circuit of the generator. The main advantage of this technical solution is the possibility to have an air-cooled exciter instead of an H2 cooled one. The handling of an air-cooled exciter with its own coolers is much easier and less expensive. On the other hand the disadvantage of this design is the fact that the additional pressure of the generator rotor fan cannot be used to cool the exciter. For the small exciters a small portion of the exciter side airflow is derivated and mainly used to cool their static parts. Then the nuclear exciters are designed for a self-ventilation. Also the arrangement of the diodes is different for small exciters compared to the large ones applied on 4-pole generators. This has also an impact on the ventilation. The cooling of the nuclear exciter is ensured by the cold air, which enters in the central tube of the inductor and feeds the two principal cooling circuits for the active parts (see Figure 5): Airgap and inter-polar spaces between field windings Ventilation ducts placed at the back of the magnetic circuit of the armature, ensuring also, in this way, the ventilation of the rectifier bridge. To draw benefit from the self-ventilation created by the rotation of the active parts, vanes in the housing guide the outgoing air, at the end of these active parts. After the transformation of the dynamic pressure into static pressure, the air goes through coolers mounted in series. In this way, the hot air is cooled and adapted coolers, placed on the top of the housing, evacuate the losses. This is a closed loop cooling cycle. In order to improve the cooling of the exciter, the chosen solution is illustrated in Figure 6. Additionally, the arrangement with air guide vanes leads to the fact that the housing can be made as a stiff and compact design with an outer cylinder. 6

Moreover, with such a design it is easy to have two coolers in series on the airside and to be able to have high performance even with one cooler out of service. As for the generator with an H2 cooler failure the target is fixed at 70% of rated load. The parallel configuration on the waterside of the coolers allows easy access for maintenance. The calculated temperatures are acceptable and fulfil both for the field inductor, as for the armature winding the limits defined for the thermal class B (130C). They are in conformity with the usual values considered for the exciters, in particular for those, which are mounted on the French nuclear fleet.

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Coolers

Drum

Air guide vanes

Armature Field winding part

Diodes & Fuses

Figure 5: Ventilation and cooling scheme of FLAMANVILLE 3 exciter

Figure 6: Additional air guides

CONCLUSIONS

Based on well-proven components and by using updated computer programs, the redesign for EPR exciter allows fulfilling to the actual required performances of new nuclear plant. The ceiling operation can be achieved even with 2 diodes faults resulting in 2 fuses blown without jeopardizing the remaining diodes or fuses. There is no hydrogen introduction in the exciter casing if the rotor D-leads are not tight. The improved cooling design evaluated with CFD calculation uses several methods to increase the airflow and heat exchange efficiency: Compact frame design with vertical coolers in serial on the airside Optimisation of the cooling surfaces Additional cooling air guide vanes (patented design). Thus the thermal class B (130C) is respected for any operation condition: Thermal class 130(B) at rated load or at reduced load in case of a cooler failure (< 120C and <130C respectively for the field & armature winding) Thermal class 130(B) + 10 K for ceiling operation as the insulation material is thermal class 155(F).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] T. Taoufik, M. Poloujadoff. Modeling of Polyphase Brushless Exciter Behavior for Failing Diode Operation (IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 13, n3, September 1998 pages 214-220)