Efficient Methods for the Study of Eddy-Currents Effects in Medium-Voltage Rotating Electrical Machines

Lo scopo di questa tesi \ue8 presentare alcuni metodi efficienti (dal punto di vista computazionale) per il calcolo degli effetti dovuti alle correnti parassite (eddy currents) in macchine elettriche rotanti in media tensione. Due applicazioni in particolare sono state considerate nel dettaglio. Inizialmente viene analizzato il fenomeno delle correnti parassite indotte nell'albero di motori asincroni a due poli e il conseguente effetto sulle prestazioni della macchina, focalizzandosi in particolare sul fattore di potenza. La seconda parte della tesi concentra la sua attenzione sullo studio dell'avviamento da rete di motori sincroni con rotore massiccio. Per ciascuna applicazione vengono introdotte alcune procedure di calcolo, facenti uso di opportuni modelli numerici basati sul metodo degli elementi finiti, per mezzo delle quali vengono adeguatamente calcolati i parametri dei circuiti equivalenti di macchina, tenendo conto degli effetti legati alle correnti parassite. I modelli numerici sono opportunamente definiti, in modo tale da ridurre al massimo la complessit\ue0 delle geometrie e il conseguente onere computazionale. I risultati delle procedure innovative qui proposte sono confrontati con i dati provenienti da prove sperimentali sulle macchine oggetto di studio e con analoghi risultati di calcolo dedotti tramite le procedure comunemente utilizzate. Il confronto fra questi dati ha dimostrato che gli approcci di calcolo introdotti in questa tesi permettono di ottenere risultati con un elevato livello di accuratezza e una netta riduzione dell'onere computazionale.The efficient computation of eddy-current effects in medium voltage electric machines is discussed in this dissertation. Two particular cases are considered. Firstly, the effects of shaft eddy-currents on two-pole induction motor performance is addressed, with special focus on the power factor. In the second part of the thesis the start-up calculation of a large synchronous motor with solid rotor is analyzed. For each application a special calculation procedure is introduced. These procedures adopt a set of suitable finite-element models to properly compute the machine equivalent circuit parameters that are mainly influenced by eddy-current-related phenomena. By suitably choosing finite-element models boundary conditions and excitations their geometry is simplified to the maximum possible extent, in order to reduce the computational burden. The results of the new calculation methods are compared with experimental data and with analogous results obtained from commonly-adopted calculation procedures. The comparison proves that the proposed approaches can lead to high accuracy levels with very remarkable computational savings

A New Method for the Accurate Prediction of On-Load Power Factor in Two-Pole Induction Motors Considering Shaft Eddy Currents

An accurate prediction of medium-voltage induction motor (IM) power factor in rated conditions is important in the design stage to verify the machine compliance with specifications according to international testing standards. Laboratory and industrial experiences suggest that significant errors in full-load power factor calculation can result for two-pole IMs in particular, due to the eddy currents induced in the solid-steel shaft at rated slip. Such eddy currents are responsible for rejecting the main flux into rotor laminated yokes causing an increase in their saturation and, hence, in the required magnetizing current with respect to no-load conditions. This article proposes a method to study the phenomenon through a combination of analytical and simplified Finite Element (FE) calculations as a computationally-efficient alternative to conventional FE simulations. The results of the proposed approach are experimentally assessed by comparison with measurements on a set of built and tested medium-voltage two-pole IMs of different sizes, showing very good accuracy and computational performance

Benefits of Selecting PMASR Machines as Traction Motors in Battery Electric Forklift Trucks

The advantages of using PM-assisted synchronous reluctance motors as traction devices for electric forklift vehicles are investigated in this paper. Motor energy consumption and drive overall performance are analytically estimated through a simulation of a standard VDI-based driving cycle and compared with the corresponding results from a reference system driven using induction motors

Analytical flux density determination in the SPM slotless machine stator core

Slotless machines equipped with surface permanent magnet (SPM) rotor are used in such applications where the torque ripple and the additional losses, due to the slotting effect, are critical issues. This kind of machine allows to find an accurate and analytical solution for the magnetic fields in every machine cross section domain. This paper derives an analytical expression for the magnetic field distribution inside the stator core of a SPM slotless machine during general load condition. The case of different rotor magnetization pattern is also considered. All the results are assessed with finite element analysis showing a very good accordance

A New Method for the Analytical Determination of the Complex Relative Permeance Function in Slotted Electrical Machines

The complex relative permeance function is a suitable tool to predict the air gap magnetic field in slotted stator electrical machines. In the literature, the complex permeance function is usually identified by means of numerical techniques based on complex techniques such as conformal mapping or subdomain method. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed. This method is based on solving the magnetostatic Laplace equation over a portion of the slotted air gap by imposing appropriate boundary conditions in the slot opening region. Such boundary condition tries to represent the theoretical trend of the magnetic field divergence near the corner-shaped ferromagnetic regions. Furthermore, the Carter theory for the slot opening consideration is used. A fully analytical formulation for the complex relative permeance function is obtained, and its accuracy is assessed using finite element analysis

Liquid vs. Gas Phase CO2 Photoreduction Process: Which Is the Effect of the Reaction Medium?

The use of carbon dioxide, the most concerning environmental issue of the 21st century, as a feedstock for fuels productions still represents an innovative, yet challenging, task for the scientific community. CO2 photoreduction processes have the potential to transform this hazardous pollutant into important products for the energy industry (e.g., methane and methanol) employing a photocatalyst and light as the only energy input. In order to design an effective process, the high sustainability of this reaction should be matched with the perfect reaction conditions to allow the reactant, photocatalyst, and light source to come together: therefore, the choice of reaction conditions, and in particular its medium, is a crucial issue that needs to be investigated. Throughout this paper, a careful study of carbon dioxide photoreduction in liquid and vapour phases are reported, focusing on their effect on catalyst performances in terms of light harvesting, productivity, and selectivity. Different from most papers in the literature, catalytic tests were performed under extremely low light irradiance, in order to minimise the primary energy input, highlighting that this experimental variable has a great effect on the reaction pathway and, thus, product distribution

Is there life on the airway tree? A pilot study of bronchial cell vitality and tissue morphology in the ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) era of lung transplantation

BACKGROUND: Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) is a relevant procedure to increase the lung donor pool but could potentially increase the airway tree ischemic injury risk. METHODS: This study aimed to evaluate the direct effect of EVLP on the airway tree by evaluating bronchial cell vitality and tissue signs of injury on a series of 117 bronchial rings collected from 40 conventional and 19 EVLP‐treated lung grafts. Bronchial rings and related scraped bronchial epithelial cells were collected before the EVLP procedure and surgical anastomosis. RESULTS: The preimplantation interval was significantly increased in the EVLP graft group (p < 0.01). Conventional grafts presented cell viability percentages of 47.07 ± 23.41 and 49.65 ± 21.25 in the first and second grafts which did not differ significantly from the EVLP group (first graft 50.54 ± 25.83 and second graft 50.22 ± 20.90 cell viability percentage). No significant differences in terms of histopathological features (edema, inflammatory infiltrate, and mucosa ulceration) were observed comparing conventional and EVLP samples. A comparison of bronchial cell viability and histopathology of EVLP samples retrieved at different time intervals revealed no significant differences. Accordingly, major bronchial complications after lung transplant were not observed in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these data, we observed that EVLP did not significantly impact bronchial cell vitality and airway tissue preservation nor interfere with bronchial anastomosis healing, further supporting it as a safe and useful procedure

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurement of the top quark pair cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV using final states with an electron or a muon and a hadronically decaying τ lepton

A measurement of the cross section of top quark pair production in proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.05 fb -1. Events with an isolated electron or muon and a τ lepton decaying hadronically are used. In addition, a large missing transverse momentum and two or more energetic jets are required. At least one of the jets must be identified as originating from a b quark. The measured cross section, σtt-=186±13(stat.)±20(syst.)±7(lumi.) pb, is in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction