Overview and Development of Variable Frequency AC Generators for More Electric Aircraft Generation System

Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering ›› 2017, Vol. 3 ›› Issue (2): 32-40.

Overview and Development of Variable Frequency AC Generators for More Electric Aircraft Generation System

Zhuoran Zhang*, Jincai Li, Ye Liu, Yanwu Xu, Yangguang Yan

Center for More-Electric-Aircraft Power Systems, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Nanjing, 211106, China

Online:2017-09-25 Published:2019-10-31
Contact: E-mail: apsc-zzr@nuaa.edu.cn.
About author:Zhuoran Zhang (M’09-SM’12) received the B.S. degree in measurement engineering and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), Nanjing, China, in 2000, 2003 and 2009, respectively. Since 2003, he has been a member of the faculty at Department of Electrical Engineering, NUAA, where he is currently a professor and vice director of Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of New Energy Generation and Power Conversion. From Feb. 2012 to Jun. 2013, he was a visiting professor in Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC), University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S. His research interests include design and control of permanent magnet machines, hybrid excitation electric machines, and doubly salient electric machines for aircraft power, electric vehicles, and renewable energy generation. He has authored or coauthored over 100 technical papers and one book, and is the holder of 27 issued patents in these areas. Jincai Li (S’17) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Henan University of Urban Construction, Pingdingshan, China, in 2012 and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai, China, in 2015. He is working toward the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the Center for More-Electric- Aircraft Power System, Nanjing University of Aeronautics. His main research interests include design and control of brushless synchronous starter/generator and electrical power generation system for MEA. Ye Liu (S’16) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China, in 2014. He is working towards his PhD. degree in electrical engineering in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His main research interests include design and control of hybrid excitation electrical machines for MEA and EV applications. Yanwu Xu (S’16) received the B.S. degree in measurement engineering and the M.S. degree in automation engineering from Anhui University, Hefei, China, in 2012 and 2015, respectively. He is working towards his PhD. degree in electrical engineering in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA). His research interest focuses on the electrical power generation and power system analysis of MEA. Yangguang Yan received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Nanjing Aeronautical Institute, Nanjing, China, in 1958. He is an Emeritus Professor at the College of Automation Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China, and he is the Founder of Aero-Power Sci-tech Center (APSC), a ministerial key laboratory in China. His main research interests include aeronautical power supply systems, electrical machines and power electronics. He has authored or coauthored over 350 technical papers and is the holder of 29 issued patents in these areas.
Supported by:
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation for Outstanding Young Scholar of China under Award 51622704, Jiangsu Provincial Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists under Award BK20150033.

Abstract

Abstract: With the development of more electric aircraft (MEA), higher demands for electrical energy are put forward in generation systems. Compared to constant frequency AC (CFAC) generation systems, the constant speed drive (CSD) is eliminated and integrated starter/generator (SG) can be realized in variable frequency AC (VFAC) generation systems. In this paper, an overview of VFAC generators for safety-critical aircraft applications is presented, with a particular focus on the key features and requirements of candidate generators and the starting control strategies. Wound rotor synchronous machines (WRSMs) are typical generators used in VFAC generation systems so far. Meanwhile, hybrid excitation synchronous machines (HESMs) and cage-type induction machines are promising candidates for VFAC generation systems. The generation operation of WRSM is relatively mature, however, the SG technology of WRSM is still full of challenges. As one of the most important issues, the starting excitation methods of WRSM are summarized. An HESM-based VFAC SG system is proposed and developed in this paper. The experimental results show that the starting mode, transition mode and generating mode of the VFAC SG system are realized. The continuous progress of VFAC generation system makes great contributions to the realization of MEA.

Key words: Brushless starter/generator, generation system, hybrid excitation synchronous machine, more electric aircraft, variable frequency AC generator, wound rotor synchronous machine.

Zhuoran Zhang*, Jincai Li, Ye Liu, Yanwu Xu, Yangguang Yan. Overview and Development of Variable Frequency AC Generators for More Electric Aircraft Generation System[J]. Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, 2017, 3(2): 32-40.

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