High Pole Number Epoxy-Casted Rotor Reluctance Synchronous Wind Generator

In this paper we consider the design and performance of a reluctance synchronous machine for a 5 MW, medium-speed geared wind generator drive-train. Since achieving an acceptable power factor for high pole number reluctance machines is challenging, a modular epoxy-casted rotor is proposed. The performance of such a reluctance rotor synchronous generator was evaluated by means of finite element modeling and multi-objective design optimization. Through the design optimization method, the torque density versus power factor Pareto front performance of the generator was determined. This provided insightful information on this type of rotor generator. At a reasonably good torque density of 24 kNm/m
³
and efficiency of 98.8%, a power factor of 0.72 was obtained for the selected generator design with its 16-pole, epoxy-casted reluctance rotor.