Title: The integrated design of a permanent-magnet generator for small wind energy conversion system

Authors: Min-Fu Hsieh; Yu-Han Yeh

Addresses: Department of Systems and Naval Mechatronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan City, 701, Taiwan. ' Department of Systems and Naval Mechatronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan City, 701, Taiwan

Abstract: This paper presents the integrated design, analysis and performance test of a 1.4 kW, radial-flux, permanent-magnet generator applied to small wind energy conversion system (WECS). In a small WECS, the three major components, i.e., turbine, generator and converter, need to be considered all together to gain a maximum overall efficiency, instead of only chasing high performance of individual components. Therefore, the integrated design approach developed for generators in this paper simultaneously considers the characteristics of turbine blades and power electronics for maximum electrical power generation. Finite element analysis (FEA) is employed to verify the design. The performance test shows that the generator prototype has an efficiency of 91% at the design operating condition and the output satisfies the requirement.

Keywords: PM generators; wind turbines; integrated design; permanent-magnet generators; wind energy conversion systems; WECS; wind power; converters; generator design; turbine blades; power electronics; electrical power generation; finite element analysis; FEA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2012.050698

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2012 Vol.45 No.2/3, pp.98 - 105

Published online: 01 Dec 2012 *

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