Power-Gen Conference 2006 / Orlando USA

NEW INSULATION TECHNOLOGY IMPACTS GENERATOR DESIGN

W. Ladstätter, Dr. P. Marek, W. Grubelnik, F. Senn

Isovolta Group
Development HV
Insulation Competence Centre Werndorf
8402 Werndorf, Austria

1. Abstract

The performance of an electrical rotating machine is defined by many material, component

and design parameters. Some of them like core diameter, active length, cooling medium etc.
strongly influence the power output but also have a big impact on material, manufacturing
and operational costs.
With quite simple modifications in the design of the stator winding, mainly altering copper
cross section and groundwall insulation thickness, and utilising the mica insulation tape with
the latest technology, a substantial change in either performance or machine size, without a
big increase in costs, can be achieved.

Such a material change combined with small design changes can boost up the performance of
indirect cooled generators and motors up to 20 % compared to state of the art design. This is
valid not only for new generators, but also for generators already in operation with a proper
Rewind.
On the other hand it is also feasible, especially for new Hydro generator projects, to reduce
the machine size dimensions compared to standard design with equal power output. Therefore
material and manufacturing costs can be reduced significantly. Only the material saving of the
active part can be up to 10 %.

A last field of application can, again for new or retrofit generators, enable a change of the
cooling technology. Smaller or older direct water cooled (stator winding) generators can reach
the same power output with indirect hydrogen cooled stator winding and thus saving
operational costs.

All above mentioned improvements require before and after modifications in the stator
winding the check that the rest of the electrical machine also stays within designed
temperature limits. In particular the rotor temperature needs to be verified.

2. Introduction

The rapidly increasing world demand of electrical energy requires on one hand reliable, easy
maintainable and available power generation and transmissions systems. On the other hand
new or retrofitted power systems cost an enormous amount of money and thus call strongly
for highly efficient components of every part to decrease manufacturing and operational costs.
In the power generation and transmission chain the electrical generator plays a special role:
The fundamental principle is almost 150 years old and the design in general has not altered
very much in the last decades. No matter if it is a Turbo or a Hydro generator: the electrical
machine consists of a rotor, a stator and a housing, whereas the rotor is connected to the
turbine end and the stator to the high voltage bus ducts before the step up transformer.
Today’s generators with ratings above 40 MVA have an efficiency of 97 % - 99 %, require
maintenance about every 30.000 EOH and cost about 5 – 10 % of the turbine costs, which is
by far less than 5 % of a total power plant. Nevertheless generator manufacturers are still
forced to design cheaper or bigger units at same costs but not decreasing RAM values.
In this paper the question will be discussed, whether this demand can be generally fulfilled,
how easy or costly be fulfilled and which role a manufacturer of low and high voltage
insulation materials can play in this area of conflict.

3. Material, component and design of generators

Over the last 100 years in the history of electrical generators a few developments led to an
enormous leap in power output and in some cases to a highly improved reliability and
efficiency.
In the early 20th century the “Roebel Bar” was invented, as the power output with more
copper in the stator winding could not be increased any more. The step from solid copper to
insulated copper strands, later together with a certain transposition, enabled the possibility
hundred years ago to design and built generators, which were able to generate the increasing
need for power at reasonable number of units and sizes.
Later, about 25 years, the cooling medium for stator and rotor was modified from air to
hydrogen, which led again to a quantum step in power output per unit. Similar to that switch
the introduction of direct water cooled stator windings set the base that big nuclear power
plants with huge steam turbines of 800 MW and above could operate only with one generator,
producing all the electrical power with one unit.
Beside that major cooling and design changes the introduction of two materials also needs to
be mentioned as significant improvements in high voltage machines. In the first half of the
20th century natural insulation products like silk, wool, cellulose and flax together with natural
varnishes and petroleum derivatives formed the high voltage insulation barrier between the
stator winding and the stator core and housing. Later on the substitution by asbestos, quartz
and other minerals caused small improvements in the reliability but also in the effectiveness
of the insulation compound. With the introduction of mica in general in the 50´s, but
especially with fine mica flakes together with synthetic resin a next remarkable step in
reliability and power output of generators could be accomplished.

The last significant improvement, which resulted in an increase in power output, was the
introduction of computers and its application programs with the use of Finite Element based
programs for electrical, ventilation and mechanical calculations. The static, and where it is
needed, dynamic and systematic calculation of all components allowed to close the gap
between its designed limit and reality proven by measurements.
For instant, multi chamber cooling or special transposition of the strands in the “Roebel Bars”
pushed up the record in the mid 90´s of indirect air cooled Turbo generators to 300 MVA and
to 500 MVA for indirect hydrogen cooled ones respectively.
In principle two categories to push up power output can be applied:
• Increase size of generator in length and/or core and rotor inner and outer diameter with
same specific utilisation
• Increase specific utilisation

A term, which describes the specific utilisation, is the formula of Esson and is defined for the
complete machine.
S
C= 2 n (1)
da ∗ l ∗ n

SN.... Nominal apparent power [VA]

da..... Core outer diameter [m]
l....... Active length [m]
n...... Speed [s-1]

It is essential that, whilst keeping the specific utilisation constant and increasing the power
output, the dimension of the generator in length and diameter increase. This implies the use of
more material, especially iron and copper, thus making the generator more expensive.
Contrary, a pure increase of the specific utilisation leads to more output with about same
dimensions and about same generator material costs.
In reality, most of the developments in the last decades go along with a combination of
machine size enlargement together with a higher specific utilisation, caused by specific or
local improvements like reduced electrical field density strength by designing greater corner
radius at the active part of the green bars.
The smart sounding way to reduce local hot spot temperatures is the simple way to increase
the average temperature of a component without exceeding the upper limits. In other words, it
is the outstanding engineering know-how to detect, during the development phase, the various
possible hot spots and find a technique or a method to control them and benefit from more
power output without enlarging the electrical machine.
The table below gives an overview assessment of the main changes made in the evolution of
generators:

Table 1: Assessment of main design changes in the history of generators

Changes / Innovation C= C↑ Higher operation &

const. maintenance costs
Machine length increase x
Machine diameter increase x
Roebel bar x
Hydrogen indirect cooling x x
Direct water cooled stator bars x x
Fine mica flakes together with synthetic resin x
Optimised Roebel transposition x
CFD, FE calculations x
Increased number or parallel circuits x x
Sub cooling of certain areas (stator and rotor) x
Improved parameters of the HV ground wall x
insulation
It is understandable that generator designers themselves try to work mainly at changes and
improvements where mostly the utilisation is positively affected and does not cause
significant higher material, production, operation or maintenance costs. Also suppliers of
components and materials for generators are permanently challenged to make their
contribution to a more efficient and if possible cheaper generator without harming the
reliability of it.

Examining the table above another possibility is feasible by increasing the utilisation and
partly the size of the generator. In doing this for a certain needed power a “downgrading” of
the chosen cooling medium, for instant from water to hydrogen or from hydrogen to air
cooling, reduces notably the initial auxiliaries as well as the operating and maintenance costs.
It needs to be considered however, that the pure dimension and therefore the material costs
might increase slightly.

4. HV insulation systems in a power generator

The basic principle in generating electrical energy is to move a conductor through a magnetic
field. The Lorentz force moves the free charges in the conductor and generates a potential
difference.
In a 3 phase synchronous generator the magnetic field is generated by a rotating DC winding.
Depending on the number of coils per phase in the armature winding a voltage level is
induced and forces a current to flow through the closed loop.

4.1. Principle concept of a large generator (Turbo)

Components
at HV
potential

Figure 1: Main components of an air cooled generator (Alstom Power: “World´s

largest air-cooled Turbogenerator in operation”, IEEE Symposium, September 2004,
Birr Switzerland)
In figure 1 the copper parts in the stator are at a certain, designed HV potential, normally in a
3 phase system. The copper parts in the rotor are at a level below 1 kV, thus no high voltage.
The rest of the generator like stator core including press plate, housing, cooler and bearings
are at earth potential means 0 V.
In the active part of the stator all of the coils are embedded in the core for a certain length.
Along this straight part a high voltage between core and copper strands, of up to 28 kV / √3,
needs to be insulated for a life time of a generator at the designed maximum temperatures.

For indirect cooled stator windings, which are predominantly used in air and hydrogen cooled
generators, a paradox occur. The same electrical high voltage insulation must allow
transporting of the various copper losses in form of heat from the stator bars to escape to the
stator core and to the ventilation ducts.
For simplicity: The better the transport of heat (good conducting material) the lower the
operating temperature or the higher the potential current thus the power of the generator. But
the better the (electrical) insulation the lower the self heating effect of itself and in general,
the longer the life time of the insulation.

With the application of the combination of fine mica flakes together with synthetic resin,
mostly epoxy and / or polyester, two main high voltage insulation systems have been
invented:
• Vacuum Pressure Impregnation (VPI)
• Resin Rich (RR)

4.2. Vacuum Pressure Impregnation

In this system mica tapes with a low content of resin in combination with an impregnation
resin during the pressure phase come into operation. The low resin content in the mica tapes
are needed to form a practical and usable insulation tape for the winding process nowadays
with robot up to 300 rpm. One part of the resin is to pre-impregnate the mica paper and the
other to bond the mica with various carriers. Basically fleece, PET film, glass cloth or a
combination of them are used as carriers. For the use in big units with high voltage, glass
cloths have prevailed as the thermal, mechanical and electrical properties are superior.
Within the VPI process there are 2 sub-categories, which are physically equal but need
different tools for their processes:
• Hard coil process
• Global VPI process

4.3. Resin Rich process

As indicated by the name, the tapes have a considerably higher resin content. The resin in the
tape is not only for manufacturing of itself and sound taping characteristics needed, but also to
provide enough resin for the saturation and curing process of the groundwall insulation.
The maximum used revolution per minute at taping machines is lower.
For the carrier similar statements as for VPI tapes are true, mica tapes for highest performance
are backed by glass cloths.
Also, for RR it has to be mentioned that 2 different processes are world wide in use and
require slightly different tape properties:
• Hydrostatic pressing
• Form pressing
As the hydrostatic way of pressing is more or less a closed process, all the resin remains in the
insulation and must not exceed a certain amount. For the form pressing bar process, the
excessive resin can flow out of the insulation on the left and right side of the pressing tool.

4.4. State of the art HV insulation parameters

Today’s used and above introduced insulation systems have reached an acceptable
manufacturing process effort and very high reliability in operation. As mentioned before,
insulation systems are designed for power plants for a life time of more than 30 years.
Beside life time and reliability other parameters define exactly the efficiency of the used
insulation in service.
These are the designed maximum temperature, the electrical stress (field strength) and thermal
conductivity.

A combination of electrical stress and thermal conductivity is described by the thermal

transmission coefficient. It defines the capability of heat transport due to losses in the copper
through the insulation towards the iron core and ventilation ducts.
The higher the thermal transmission coefficient is, the lower the copper temperature in
operation. The thermal transmission is calculated with Formula 2.

λ
P = A ⋅ ΔT ⋅ (2)
s

P… Thermal transmission [W]

A… Heat transmission area [m²]
ΔT… Temperature difference [K]
λ… Thermal conductivity [W/mK]
s… Thickness of insulation [m]

In other words the thinner the insulation the better the relative thermal transmission and the
higher the thermal conductivity the better the heat transport.
If the heat transmission area and the temperature difference are constant, the ability for heat
transmission is only defined by the quotient λ / s.

Beside the thermal transmission coefficient, it is also well known that the higher the allowed
mean temperature rise the more losses, generated by more current and voltage, can be
dissipated. Calculations and estimates have revealed that a temperature rise from class 130
(B) to class 155 (F) would increase the power output by about 10 – 15 %.
Table 2: Typical values for today’s insulation systems with glass cloth as carrier

Mica Resin Glass λ ENom Therm. d [mm/ TTC

[%] [%] cloth [%] [W/mK] [kV/mm] class 18kV] [W/m²K]
RR
Standard ∼ 54 ∼ 36 ∼ 10 0.25 2.75 155 3.8 66
VPI
Standard ∼ 62 ∼ 28 ∼ 10 0.28 2.9 155 3.6 77

As the process varies between different coil manufactures, all values above are average values
and do not reflect some outstanding or very unusual parameters.
For the use (example a table 2) of such an insulation system in an 18 kV generator, the
groundwall insulation thickness and thermal transmission coefficient can be calculated. One
can see that the VPI system has a slight technical advantage evoked by higher nominal field
strength (ENom) and better thermal conductivity (λ).

4.5. Mica tape components

A mica tape consists normally of 3 main components, sometimes of more. One of course and
the major component is mica backed with a glass cloth carrier and resin as binder.
Mica has, depending on its type, a melting point of more than 1200°C, is extremely corona
and ozone resistant and has one of the best electrical breakdown values at all. The thermal
coefficient lies between 0.25 and 1.7 W/mK [1] and is better than for instant resin, but by far
less than of course metals.
Glass has similar thermal resistance values, also very good thermal properties and almost as
good electrical properties as mica.
The used resin, Epoxy or Polyester or a blend of them, is used normally for the binder and
also for the impregnation process. The electrical and thermal values are, compared to Mica
and glass, a lot worse, but still good enough to be an important component in HV insulation
systems.

Nevertheless small but continuous developments over the last decades, since introduction of
mica, have increased the electrical stress from about 1 kV/mm in the fifties to about 3 kV/mm
now.
Table 3: Overview of the individual mica tape components mica, glass and resin [1,2]

Unit Mica E-glass EP or UP resin

Electrical field
kV/mm 60 - 200 10 - 40 20 - 45
strength at 20°C
Thermal
W/mK 0.25 - 1.7 1.0 0.12 - 0.2
conductivity
Specific electrical
Ωcm 1014 - 1017 > 1010 1013 - 1016
resistance
Mechanical
↓ ↑ ↔
properties
Melting point or
°C 1200 840 80 – 180
Tg*
*
…Glass transition temperature

Figure 2: VPI and RR mica tape rolls

In order to improve basically current mica insulations the development has to focus on the
thermal transmission coefficient or the maximal thermal class.
Obviously from table 3 the resin, as necessary it might be, is the weakest material in the HV
insulation compound. Therefore either the electrical and thermal properties of the resin have
to be improved or the relative content of the resin has to be reduced.
Also considerable efforts have been made, and to some extend been successful, to add
particles or materials to the 3 compound tape in order to increase the thermal conductivity. As
none of these very good conducting materials are by far a superior insulation and corona
resistant material as mica, the field strength suffers from any added component. Nevertheless
the overall factor, the TTC, can be increased in the range of 50 to 60 %. In chapter 6 it will be
discussed, how much the power output can be enlarged by only improving the groundwall
insulation by a certain percentage.
5. Next generation of mica tapes

Isovolta chose to improve glass backed mica tapes by reducing the content of resin in the
groundwall insulation.

Resin

Figure 3: REM (Raster electron microscope) picture of a standard VPI insulation

All possible free spaces, made during taping of the glass backed mica tape, are filled with
resin. Small gaps can be seen between the mica flakes, but the major gaps to be filled with are
due the glass cloth and especially due to the weave knuckles, created by the crossing of warp
and weft.

5.1. New glass cloth carrier for mica tapes

Powerfab® is a synonym for a new type of mica tapes, which uses a flat glass cloth as carrier
for high voltage insulation materials in Resin Rich (Calmicafab®) and VPI technology
(Porofab®).
The glass cloth, used for this technology, is thinner compared to the glass cloth currently used
by all mica tape manufacturers at identical weight.
This results from a new production method for glass cloth. The glass filaments are not twisted
any more, they are just laid in parallel as shown in Figure 4. Every single filament is covered
with a finish (shown in Figure 4 with a red circle).
Glass
filaments

Weft yarn

Δ ~ 25 - 35 %

Warp yarn

Figure 4: Thickness difference between standard and Powerfab® glass carrier

Due to the parallel filaments the crossing sections of warp and weft yarns are leaner and
promote fewer voids in this critical area during VPI process and Resin Rich pressing process
(Figure 5).

Resin

Glass
carrier

Figure 5: Enlarged contact area for the binder resin and reduced Mica tape thickness with
Powerfab®

Measurements and results

All tests to determine the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties are performed with
VPI tapes based on an epoxy anhydride system and the RR form pressing process.

5.2. Mechanical properties

The main goal of the development was to reduce the thickness of the tape and hence the total
thickness of the groundwall insulation.
With the Porofab® technology a decrease of approximately 15 % of the total insulation
thickness compared to standard VPI tapes can be achieved (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Comparison of insulation thickness for 10 kV coils with same number of Mica tape
layers

Similar thickness reduction, in the range of 15 %, can be reached with the Calmicafab®
technology.

All other mechanical properties as tensile strength, flexural strength and tear edge strength
show at least the same values. [7]
 Resin

Figure 7: REM (Raster electron microscope) picture of Porofab® VPI insulation

The cross section of this high voltage insulation shows a very homogeneous build up with a
very dominant part of mica. The glass carrier is thinner and the result is a considerable
reduction of resin in the order of 21 %.

5.3. Electrical properties

The amount of mica in the groundwall insulation depends on the number of applied layers.
For the same amount of mica, the total insulation taped with Porofab® is about 15 % thinner
having at least same or higher breakdown voltage values compared to the thicker standard
insulation. This groundwall reduction leads to a possible increase of the insulation voltage
stress.

Voltage Endurance under heavy conditions (sharp edges)

40
Porofab (VPI)
Calmicafab (RR)
35 IEEE 1553 Schedule A, 3.4 kV/mm
IEEE 1553 Schedule A, 3.7 kV/mm
IEEE 1553 Schedule A, 4.0 kV/mm
IEEE 1553 Schedule B, 3.4 kV/mm
30 IEEE 1553 Schedule B, 3.7 kV/mm
IEEE 1553 Schedule B, 4.0 kV/mm

25
E in kV/mm

20

15

10

0
0,01 0,1 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
t in h

Figure 8: Voltage Endurance Test (VPI and RR)

As shown in Figure 8, the voltage endurance test is done with VPI and RR insulations at
standard bars of 600 – 800mm length and with an insulation thickness between 1.7 and 2 mm.
In order to be on the safe side with forecasts of possible voltage stresses, the “green bars”
have been made without corner radius and inner corona protection material. For evaluation of
the results the IEEE 1553 was used [10].
For VPI systems, electrical field strength between 3.5 and 4.0 kV/mm seems to be realistic,
depending of course on the geometry and inner corona protection design of the “green bar”
and of the entire process quality of the coil / bar production.
With the same boundary conditions as for VPI, the stress for the RR system will be between
3.3 and 3.7 kV/mm.

5.4. Thermal properties

With a Porofab® insulation system values for the thermal conductivity of 0.36 – 0.37 W/mK,
compared to 0.28 W/mK for a typical VPI insulation system, were measured.
For RR systems, the difference is not as significant for the pure thermal conductivity.
Measurements have revealed an improvement from about 0.25 W/mK to about 0.27 W/mK.

Table 4: Parameters for standard and Powerfab® insulations with different electrical stresses

Possible
Mica Resin Glass cloth λ Emax therm. d [mm/ TTC
[%] [%] [%] [W/mK] [kV/mm] class 18kV] [W/m²K]
RR
Standard 54 36 10 0.25 2.75 155 3.8 66
Calmicafab® 155 –
(RR) 57 33 10 0.27 3.4 180 3.1 87
Calmicafab® 155 –
(RR) 57 33 10 0.27 3.7 180 2.8 96
VPI
Standard 62 28 10 0.28 2.75 155 3.8 74
VPI
Standard 62 28 10 0.28 3.0 155 3.6 78
Porofab®
(VPI) 67 22 10 0.365 3.5 180 3.0 122
Porofab®
(VPI) 68 22 10 0.365 4.0 180 2.6 140

Beside the thermal property of conduction, it is most important to know, if the insulation
system is capable to operate permanently without failure at a certain temperature. Today for
classic VPI and RR systems, without using silicone resin, class 155 (F) is common, whereas
these electrical machines operate in general one level below at class 130 (B).
The available standards do not clearly describe the criteria for a HV insulation system. One
standard [8] gives test procedures up to sizes of 50 MVA and 15 kV. Another standard [10]
recommends trial use, which is first not binding and second no criteria therein are mentioned.
Isovolta has overcome this handicap by a certain thermo cycle test procedure, which is one
possible way out of many, to compare different systems regarding their thermal behaviour.

Thermo cycle test procedure:

1. Insulation material (thickness between 1.7 and 2.0 mm) is applied at standard bars of
about 60-70 cm length and fully cured
2. Thermo cycle with first temperature level for 16h
3. Cooling for 8h at room temperature
4. Measurement of loss factor: if tip up value is less than 5 ‰, repetition of thermo cycle
but with 10°C more
5. If thermo cycle test temperature level reaches 210°Cfor VPI or 200°C for RR, the
thermo cycles are repeated at this temperature till loss factor tip up is larger than 5 ‰.

Chart 1 and 2 show the results for VPI and RR insulations.

Thermocycle test VPI

60

50

VPI Standard Sample 1

40
VPI Standard Sample 2
Number of cycles

VPI Standard Sample 3

VPI Standard Sample 4
30 Porofab Sample 1
Porofab Sample 2
Porofab Sample 3
Porofab Sample 4
20 Porofab Sample 5

10

0
160 170 180 190 200 210
Temperature level [°C]

Chart 1: Thermal cycle tests of VPI insulation

 Thermocycle test RR

4
RR Standard Sample 1
RR Standard Sample 2
Number of cycles

RR Standard Sample 3
RR Standard Sample 4
3
Calmicafab Sample 1
Calmicafab Sample 2
Calmicafab Sample 3
2 Calmicafab Sample 4

0
160 170 180 190 200 210
Temperature level [°C]

Chart 2: Thermal cycle tests of RR insulation

In both insulation systems the new technology with flat glass behaves significantly better than
insulation systems with standard glass carrier.
It is worth to mention that generally VPI systems behave better than RR systems. The
difference is about 15 to 20°C, which means almost one temperature class according old
declaration [11].
Regarding the fact that class 155 VPI systems are able to withstand about 2-3 cycles at 210°C,
whereas Porofab systems withstand between 31-55 cycles, it can be stated that Porofab
withstands temperatures above 155°C for a longer time of period. It needs to be checked in
further test campaigns, if this increased temperature level is 180 (H).

6. Generators with new generation of mica tapes

As mentioned in the beginning, a few possibilities with the improved mica tapes can be
established, depending of course on the field of application.

6.1. Increased power output provoked by less insulation thickness

The question how much the power output can be increased, if the insulation thickness is
decreased by a certain percentage, can not be easily answered.
The reason is simple, because the heat transfer from the stator copper to iron and cooling air
or gas is just one out of many parameters, which define the performance of an electrical
machine. Almost every generator, in particular larger ones, with a power output of more than
1 MW needs to be recalculated to find the individual maximum.
However, there are general graphs available, created by generator manufacturers, which give
a first indication of the possible power increase.

20

Percent Increase in Output 15

Range of Change in
Output Capacity
10

5 10 15 20 25
Percent Decrease in Insulation Thickness

Figure 9: Relationship between machine output and insulation thickness [4]

According to Figure 9 the machine output can be increased in the range which is shown in
Chart 4.

140 4

D [mm/mm]
130 3,5 P min [MW/MW]
P max [MW/MW]

120 3 E [kV/mm]

110 2,5
kV/mm
[%]

100 2

90 1,5

80 1

70 0,5

60 0
RR Standard Calmicafab 1 Calmicafab 2 VPI Standard a Porofab 1a Porofab 2a VPI Standard b Porofab 1b Porofab 2b

Chart 4: Comparison of Powerfab insulation thickness reduction and relative power output
increase versus standard insulation

D… Insulation thickness [mm]

P… Active power [MW]
E… Electrical field strength [kV/mm]
The relative power output increase for RR systems varies in the range of 5 % to 15 %
depending on the machine design and relative insulation thickness reduction. For VPI systems
the increase is slightly higher due to the higher difference of the electrical field strength and
can be rated between 6 % and 19 %.
Chart 4 refers to insulation thickness reduction only and does not fully reflect the fact that
Powerfab enables beside higher field strengths also higher absolute thermal conductivity of
the insulation itself. The improved thermal conductivity values vary between 8 % for RR
systems and 28 % for VPI systems as displayed in table 4. The question is now, how much
more one can get out of an electrical machine bearing both increases of parameters in mind.

6.2. Increased power output provoked by less insulation thickness and higher
thermal conductivity

The institute of Electrical Machines and Drives at the Graz University of Technology in
Austria was instructed to recalculate a real generator with given parameters and to find out the
possible machine output increase.

6.2.1. Power increase for a small air cooled hydro generator

Starting point is a hydro generator with following data:

SN = 32 MVA IN = 1760 A
cos ϕ = 0.85 f = 50 Hz
n = 500 rpm EN = 2.24 kV/mm
UN = 10.5 kV λ = 0.27 W/mK

A thermo-electrical calculation of the generator was done using given parameters. A certain
stator copper temperature TST resulted, which is below class B.

The changes for the recalculation were the following:

EN new = 3.0 kV/mm
λnew = 0.37 W/mK

As the stator slot dimension can not be altered very easily in a given design, the new
generated space due to less insulation material is filled up with copper. The calculated rate in
this case is 12.5 % more copper in the slot.

In order to reach the same stator copper temperature TST as in status “old “ the armature
current has to be increased by about 16.5 %, which is identical to a power increase of the
same value.
In this calculation, the thermal and electrical equivalent network has been used without taking
magnetic values of the stator into consideration. This means for instant, if the stator tooth
magnetic flux becomes too high, the envisaged current increase needs to be reduced to get
acceptable flux values.
 6.2.2. Power increase for a large indirect hydrogen cooled turbo generator

Starting point is a turbo generator with following data:

SN = 440 MVA IN = 12702 A
cos ϕ = 0.80 f = 50 Hz
n =3000 rpm EN = 2.70 kV/mm
UN = 20.0 kV λ = 0.27 W/mK

This turbo generator has under given operation parameter a temperature in the stator which is
at IEC limit class B [11].

A recalculation thermo, electrical and magnetically wise of the generator is done in a similar
way as above but with following changes:

EN new = 3.5 kV/mm

λnew = 0.37 W/mK

Again, as the stator slot dimension can not be altered very easily, the new generated slot space
due to less insulation material is filled up with copper. The stator copper increase is about
9.5 %.

In order to reach the same stator copper temperature as in status “old” the armature current
can be increased by about 20.5 %, which is identical to a power increase of the same value.
The calculation is done for the complete stator without checking in detail the rotor capability
for the necessary increased field current. This needs to be checked and if necessary
modifications need to be applied to bring the field winding temperature back to class 130
limits. Another possibility is to define class 130 for the stator and accept that the rotor is
running partly in class 155 under the new full load.

6.2.3. Cost, dimension and loss reduction for a very large indirect air cooled hydro
generator

For this calculation, an existing large hydro generator was investigated in the way to reduce
the overall dimension and the specific copper and iron losses by increasing the electrical field
strength in the stator insulation. The calculation was done by the development department of a
known producer of power plants.

Starting point is an indirect air cooled turbo generator with following data:
PN = 750 MW f = 50 Hz
n =75 rpm EN = 2.5 kV/mm
UN = 20.0 kV λ = 0.27 W/mK

Optimised parameters:
EN new = 3.5 kV/mm
λnew = 0.37 W/mK
With higher electrical field strength the copper cross section can be slightly increased, the
stator tooth width and height can be changed and the stator yoke outer diameter can be
reduced to a certain extend, depending always on the focus of the designer.
Together with a loss cost value of a power plant of 4,000 $/kW the total costs for such a big
generator can be reduced by up to 3 %.

A very large Hydro generator with about 750 MW has a selling price of roughly 18 Mio $.
This means a price reduction of up to 0.5 Mio $ is feasible with the new Powerfab
Technology.

If disregarding the loss calculation for the costs of a generator and putting all efforts in
reducing the dimensions and therefore the used material of the stator, the iron volume can be
reduced by about 6 % for a 28 % decrease in insulation thickness. The stator copper can be
reduced by 15 – 20 %, whereas the material of the housing by about 4.4 %.

6.3. Simpler cooling technology provoked by less insulation thickness and higher
thermal conductivity for retrofit

Derived from former chapters and explanations, it is imaginable that generators with older
design, less utilisation but with given dimensions can be modified in that way that the stator
bar and phase ring cooling can be made with a simpler cooling technology but reaching same
output.
Some possible scenarios for retrofit of Turbo generators:

Table 5: Stator cooling design simplification variants for Turbo generators

Old design for stator bars and
phase rings
Direct water cooling
Direct hydrogen cooling
Indirect hydrogen cooling
Retrofit with new design New output limits with
for stator bars and phase Powerfab Technology
rings
Indirect hydrogen cooling 600 MVA
Indirect hydrogen cooling 600 MVA
Indirect air cooling 450 MVA

It needs to be mentioned that not every old design is capable to reach the maximum listed
power output with Powerfab and a simpler cooling technology. Every case, means generator,
needs to be calculated in detail to determine the new possible power output with improved
Powerfab parameters listed in table 4.

6.4. Material and loss reduction in a 13.8 kV AC Motor provoked by less insulation
thickness

All former calculations and cost, power and design comparisons were done with a 3 phase
synchronous generator. An AC machine should behave similar and also cost reduction by
material and loss reduction or power increase should be possible.
Table 6 shows the calculated values for material savings and loss reduction.
A detailed calculation for a 5.5 MW AC motor was done with following results: [6]

PN = 5.6 MW f = 60 Hz
n =1750 rpm EN = 2.0 kV/mm
UN = 13.8 kV

Optimised parameters:
EN new = 2.75 kV/mm

Table 6: Material savings and loss reduction

Material savings Loss reduction

37 % reduction in electrical insulation 7 % core losses
11 % reduction in core and rotor steel 11 % copper losses
4 % reduction in magnet wire 0.2 % improvement in efficiency
2 % reduction in rotor copper

A rather big boost of the electrical field strength without taking the higher thermal
conductivity into account offers steel savings of 11 % for stator and rotor. Compared to
chapter 6.2.3, the saving for steel is larger than for copper in the example of a big hydro
generator.

7. Outlook for the near future of HV insulation systems

Today’s high voltage insulations are characterised by the need for insulation systems with
inner and outer corona protection for applied rated voltages above 6 kV. Insulation
thicknesses of 1.5 mm and above do not allow silicon resins, neither for VPI impregnation nor
for RR systems. Therefore temperature class 155 is well established although demands from
the industry are stronger to offer class 180 or better systems.
This trend to have class 180 insulation systems needs to be well defined for HV systems,
especially for bigger units with voltages above 10 kV and power output above 50 MW.

Current standards like IEC or IEEE do not define limits and criteria or whether a system is
capable of reaching 180°C or not.
But IEEE or KEMA give clear indications for voltage endurance and therefore criteria, if HV
systems have a satisfying life time.
Over the last centuries, the wish for more reliable and more efficient HV insulation was
fulfilled by more precise processes, machines and intensive quality controls together with
refined technologies and material improvements.
The adapted figure 10 shows the effort and the success to improve the quality of HV
insulations.
 Figure 10: Groundwall insulation reduction over the last centuries( nominal voltage: 15kV)
[Source: Glew C.N.:”The Next Generation” – A Review of the Factors influencing the Output
of an Electrical Machine in the New Millenium.”, INSUCON/ISOTEC ´98, p. 231-242]

With further insulation process, resin and mica tape improvements the latest mica insulation
will not be the last technological step forward and higher values in terms of electrical field
strength and / or higher thermal class will need their time for development and validation, but
seem to be realistic in the future.

8. Conclusion

With the product Powerfab® from Isovolta it has been demonstrated that still improvements
at the quite high level of standard mica products are possible.
Both insulation process types, VPI and RR, can profit from the new technology and generator
manufacturers are able to present a more efficient insulation system along with a more
efficient or more powerful electrical machine.
Values of 3.5 kV/mm for rated electrical field strength have been wishes 5 years ago and both
offer and force the industry to design and utilise the new possibility. The result are more
powerful generator units with same or better reliability. Beside the technical optimisation, the
costs per MW or MWh can be decreased and enable cost reductions for all involved parties.
Temperatures in operation, for big units like 50 MW and higher, above 155°C seem to be
possible and need to be tested and optimised from both, the insulation material supplier and
the generator manufacturers.
Relevant and clear describing standards in that respect are missing and need to be defined to
reduce uncertainties and misunderstandings between all involved partners.
9. Literature

[1] Hans-Werner Rotter: “Glimmer und Glimmererzeugnisse”, Eigenverlag 1985

[2] Friedrich: “Tabellenbuch Elektrotechnik Elektronik”, Ferd. Dümmler Verlag 1986
[3] Manfred Beyer et al.: “Epoxidharze in der Elektrotechnik”, Expert Verlag 1983
[4] Christian L. Vandervort, Edward L. Kudlacik: “GE Generator Technology Update”,
GE Power Systems 04/2001
[5] Dr. H. Koefler: “Thermisches Verhalten des Ständers einer Synchronmaschine”, Graz
2005
[6] Joe Williams: “Understanding the Economic Cost Impact of Ground Wall Insulation in
13,800V AC Induction Motors”
[7] P. Marek, W. Grubelnik, B. Koerbler :“High Performance Insulation System for HV
Rotating Machines“, 10th Insucon International Conference Birmingham 2006
Induction Motors / Joe Williams
[8] IEC60034-18: “Rotating electrical machines – Part 18: Functional evaluation of
insulation systems”
[9] IEEE 1310: ”IEEE Trail Use Recommended Practice – General Principles for
Temperature Limits in the Rating of Electrical Equipment and for the Evaluation of
Electrical Insulation”
[10] IEEE 1553: ”IEEE Trial Use Standard for Voltage-Endurance Testing of Form-Wound
Coils and Bars for Hydrogenerators”
[11] IEC 60034-1: ”Rotating electrical machines – Part1: Rating and performance”